Do Your Homework First

Many women let the words “you have breast cancer” mean they have to hurry up and get rid of it. I am not suggesting that you don’t, but what I am suggesting is before jumping into a treatment plan blindly, take some time and become knowledgeable about the disease that will now consume all of your time.

For example, when I received my diagnosis, I was given a list of surgeons to call. Just so happens that the surgeon who removed my gallbladder was top on the list. I thought it was odd that a surgeon who removed gallbladders also removes cancer. My husband thought we should call this surgeon and get the process going as soon as possible. I on the other hand, wanted to learn as much about this disease as I could and make decisions based on what I learned.

I read an excellent book “The Breast Cancer Survival Manual” by John Link, M.D. It is a great resource for newly diagnosed women with breast cancer written as a step by step guide and easy to understand. In reading this book and talking with my doctor I realized that I had some time (4-6 weeks) to research and arrive at what I thought was best for me.
One of the first things I decided was that I wanted a surgeon who specialized in removing cancer from breasts not a general surgeon to remove my cancerous tumor. So that is who is sought. I also realized that a second opinion on the biopsy is important since this is what the treatment is based on. I am glad I did this too, as there was a minor difference that was found with my biopsy.

My point in all of this is…be your own advocate. Make sure you learn everything you can so that when you are presented with options you are better equipped to choose the one that is best for you. I took about 3 weeks to research and learn as much as I could. I am so glad I did as I believe it made a huge difference for me in making the decisions that I did. Give yourself the gift of time and do your homework first…

Pardon My Diversion

As you may have noticed, when I started my blog, I started sharing my personal journey with breast cancer and then veered off that path. I didn’t think anyone would find it particularly interesting, so I took a break to sort things out. Turns out, some of you are interested in hearing about my journey and I am now a bit savvier about blogging, so I am re-launching my blog today. There are lots of things I would like to share with all of you as we go down this path together, but for now I would like you to know why I am the person I am today and why Celebrate In Pink was born. Let’s start over and hit the road together….

I am a loving wife to Greg, mother to Robbie, Shawn and Zeppelin (our four legged son), entrepreneur, nature loving, dog enthusiast, perennial self help seeker who drew the breast cancer card in May 2005. I don’t believe in coincidences, rather that happenings are orchestrated for a reason. For example, feeling at a disadvantage in dealing with my thyroid issues, January 2005 I decided to sign up for a semester long course ‘Anatomy and Medical Terminology’ so that I could participate in a meaningful conversation with my doctors. I highly recommend a course like this for everyone as we need to be our own health advocates. Little did I know that I was taking this class whic was preparing me for the four words no woman wants to hear “you have breast cancer”. With the information I learned in class, I was able to understand much more of the ‘sounds like greek to me speak’ I was in for, which made a big difference in how I approached things.

So, unbeknownst to me, this was the ground work that was being laid for me to start the journey I had no idea I was about to take…stay tuned for how I approached my treatment plan.