Speed Bump

Contributed by coug90

Standing behind my store register, I got the phone call that changed my life. Diagnosed with breast cancer at 36, I had a four-year-old son, husband, and a business to run. My world that had been running along so smoothly had hit a major speed bump.

I remember desperately trying to get home before the tears came in unstoppable waves. As my four-year old stood in front of me wondering what was wrong with Mommy, my husband tried to console me and assure him everything would be okay.

A cancer diagnoses is breathtakingly scary. In a world of unknowns, I became my own teacher. I exhausted every resource in my journey to understand cancer and its possible treatments. Knowledge offered me some control over a disease where control is the ultimate sacrifice.

There are no guarantees with cancer, but it's important to believe you can win the war. I meet amazing people daily on CSN who have fought intense battles and live extraordinary lives. I'm learning to live in the moment, enjoy each disease-free day and laugh often. Life is not a race, but rather a journey to be savored.

Calling To Say “Hello?”

Contributed by suzannchili

Reflecting on the hardest 5 days of my life, I write with humor, though these events are very real and humbling. I honestly have never been so frightened, sad, or desperate for good news in my entire life. I hope that you take away the reminder I was given that life is too short, so you shouldn't sweat the small stuff, and let those you love know about it!

I went to work one Friday after an 8:00 AM yearly routine CT scan when around noon I received a phone call from my oncologist, which truly rocked my world. He was not calling to say "hello." The radiologist had immediately called him after I left the radiology center and told him a 1-inch mass was located on my stomach. I was already in a panic after realizing that the oncologist called me -- never good -- so what I heard him saying there was a "dark spot on scan…"

To read suzannchili’s full story about how she coped with the fear of a recurrence, click here.

*Next month we'll discuss “finding the positives in cancer." Got a story to share? We would love to hear from you! Please submit your editorial (200 words maximum) to communitymanager@acscsn.org; add "stories" to the subject line.