Ten Years Ago Today Was My First Cancer Diagnosis

October 20, 2004 was the day I found out I had breast cancer, for the first time. Ten years ago. My life dramatically changed that day. I found the lump a few weeks before, and a friend insisted I go have the doctor check it out. I was 39 and I worked for Big Picture Learning as a School Coach. I lived in Denver, Colorado and I had just purchased my first house.

My friend Lia Gore, who I had gone to high school with, she lived in Denver and we hadn’t seen each other in many years. I reached out to her, because her mother, Ki Ki, had been my high school Spanish teacher, and Ki Ki had breast cancer when she was in her late 20’s. Back in the days when they had women do radical mastectomies. Lia is a pediatric oncologist, she dedicates her life to helping children who have leukemias and sarcomas. She knew all the cancer doctors in Denver, and she made a few suggestions for oncologists in Denver who specialized in breast cancer.

And the cancer journey began.

I thought, because I had lived with type 1 diabetes since I was 16, that I understood the medical world. But diabetes did not prepare me for the cancer world. This new world was more organized, more coordinated, more serious than anything I had ever experienced with diabetes. I got in to see the oncologist immediately. The office workers were more kind and helpful than any of the diabetes office workers I had ever met. And when the doctor ordered many, many scans and additional tests, the office staff did all of the scheduling for me. They made sure I had the directions to all the various places I had to go for all those additional tests.

In early November 2004, I had a lumpectomy and they took 11 lymph nodes. Turned out I had cancer in one of the cells. Then I had lots of scans to make sure the cancer wasn’t in my bones, brain, liver or anywhere else. It appeared there was no other cancer. What a blessing. The drains hurt, and the surgery hurt. It took me a while to recover. But I did. Just in time to start chemotherapy. They wanted me to do that because I was 39, considered young, and they wanted to be aggressive with the treatment.

I had my first chemo in mid December. My dear friend Ara Jo came and stayed with me that first weekend. I threw up from my toes all night. I hate throwing up, so it was an extremely difficult night. The next morning, Ara Jo brought me back to the doctor’s office and they rehydrated me, and gave me some additional anti-nausea drugs. A few weeks later, I lost all my hair. From everywhere. Losing most of my eyebrows was the hardest. I didn’t mind not having to shave my legs!

It went on from there.

I often ask myself, why did I get cancer? What message did my body want to send me? What did my body want me to pay attention to? I have some ideas. And out of the horror of cancer, I ended up creating the Red Rider Program. I wanted people with diabetes to be celebrated the way cancer surviving athletes were celebrated. I found the lemonade from all the lemons I was dealt.

Plus, during the radiation treatments, I got my first dog. Mack. I needed a companion who didn’t need to talk or need me to solve any problems. Mack was with me through both cancer experiences. He was a treasure.

Blessings come from the most unexpected places. 

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