Sadly this is a serious post about boobies.
Did you know that 1 in 8 women will get breast cancer in their lifetimes? Let's assume these four women will NOT get breast cancer.
So the odds would make it such that that one of these four women will get breast cancer:
Me, my sisters and my mom round out the statistical group of 8 women. And yep, you've guessed it. One of us has breast cancer. I know your first thought is that it's me and now you are feeling all guilty for cursing me for not updating my blog for the last month. It's not me, so please feel free to continue cursing me all you'd like.
My sister Amy, one year older than me, not even 4o years old, went in for a mammogram when she found out that a mom-friend of hers was diagnosed with breast cancer. She figured she'd be one of the 7 women breathing a sigh of relief. No such luck. She was shocked to find out that she, too, had breast cancer. Some other lucky 8th woman out there is now counting her blessings.Who is the one lady in your statistical group of 8 that will be diagnosed next? Maybe it's your sister. Maybe it's you. But we'll never know unless we go get that mammogram, too! So, ladies, this is your call to action. Are you the 1 in your 8? Find out now so you have time to fight it!!
Amy's cancer is super-duper fast growing. There are a bunch of technical words I could throw at you to describe it, but I don't understand them all just yet so I'm going with what I know. "Super-duper fast growing" is an accurate description.
But thanks to that random mammogram, it was caught early. There were positive results from some genetic test she took, so Amy's boobies got to stay, but her hair and her health will be suffering. Treatment started immediately, first with a lumpectomy and lymph node removal. You can see the bandages in this picture. I'm guessing this hat will get a lot of use covering up her bald head this summer. :)
Her chemo starts tomorrow and 4 months after that awfulness, she gets to do radiation, too! Doesn't that sound like fun?? But as her husband says, it sure beats the alternative.The timing worked out that post-surgery and pre-chemo, Amy didn't have to cancel her trip to come out to Arizona with my mom and Anne to visit me. Or more accurately to eat our way through the city.
Breakfast buffet at the resort:
Dinner at the patio at Bloom (mmmm, yummy!)
Picnicking at the Queen Creek Olive Oil Mill.
More outdoor dining at the Old Town Tortilla Factory:
Pretty much, we only brought out the camera at dinner time. Well, there are a series of photos documenting our various ailments (Amy's lymph node removal, Anne's bunion surgery, Mom's knee surgery and my pretty new Harry Potter scar) but I won't be sharing those pictures. I'm sure both you and my family thank me.If I'm not too lazy, I'll share with you more about their trip, including our visit to Cosanti. But for now, just remember...No smoking animals! And no unaccompanied children running or climbing visitors after dark!
Oh, and go get a mammogram, ok?
6 comments:
I had my first mammogram in January. Love to your sister and her boobies! And hoorah for the blog return. I've written quite a bit on my own blog recently. See if you can remember the link...
I heart Amy and her boobies!
Elaine, I don't think I have access anymore...hook me up?
I can't believe this! it's so terrible. I am glad Amy caught it so soon-- toooo scary!
As the person that has seen the boobies the most over the last 11 years (that I know of :) ) I can say that the boobies don't matter in the end. As the abstraction moves to reality, all that matters is that she is here now, will be there tomorrow and will be there with me into the probabalistic future.
Hey, thanks for the comment and super awesome discount code! You rock! But you know what doesn't rock? Breast cancer... my grandma died of breast cancer, so I extra appreciate this post. So glad your sis caught it early!
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