Not the News I Was Hoping For
Dear Friends,
First, I apologize for the impersonal nature of this email, but in the interest of my time and sanity, this is the best way for me to share this news. I wish I had the strength right now to speak with each of you personally about this, but I simply cannot bear to hear myself repeat this one more time.
Last week I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Right now, there are certainly more questions than there are answers. At this point, we do not know its grade or stage and I don't yet know what type of treatment I will receive. I will be meeting with more doctors and having more tests in the coming days and hope that we will soon receive more information. What I do know is this: I have invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). This is the most common form of breast cancer, and this is "good" news because when diagnosed with cancer, the last thing you want to be is unique.
I need to ask a couple of things of each of you. First, please pray (think, pray, whatever it is that you do to send positive energy into the universe) for me, and my family, and the doctors that will treat me.
Second, please hold off on the phone calls for a few days. Email is great for me right now. I'm still having to remind myself that this is really happening, and I am not quite ready to have conversations about it yet. When we do talk, please remember that we had plenty to talk about before I had cancer, and I still want to hear about all of those things.
Last, and this might be the most important thing I ever ask you to do, please make a commitment to do a monthly self breast exam and follow-up with your doctor if something is amiss. (Guys, please encourage the ladies in your life to do so.) In January, I found a lump in my breast entirely by accident. Know what is normal for you and follow up with your doctor when something is off.
I plan to beat this disease. I will fight it, kicking and screaming if I have to, until it runs far, far away, crying for mercy. I may need to lean on you and borrow your strength at times, but I don't plan on allowing this to be any more than a temporary inconvenience in my life.
I will try to keep you posted as things develop. For this purpose, I have set up a blog, which you can find at melnorth.blogspot.com. I will try to post daily in the beginning as things develop and we get more information and a plan of action. If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them, or at least pass the information along when I get the answers.
Thank you for keeping me in your prayers right now.
Love,
Melissa
First, I apologize for the impersonal nature of this email, but in the interest of my time and sanity, this is the best way for me to share this news. I wish I had the strength right now to speak with each of you personally about this, but I simply cannot bear to hear myself repeat this one more time.
Last week I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Right now, there are certainly more questions than there are answers. At this point, we do not know its grade or stage and I don't yet know what type of treatment I will receive. I will be meeting with more doctors and having more tests in the coming days and hope that we will soon receive more information. What I do know is this: I have invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). This is the most common form of breast cancer, and this is "good" news because when diagnosed with cancer, the last thing you want to be is unique.
I need to ask a couple of things of each of you. First, please pray (think, pray, whatever it is that you do to send positive energy into the universe) for me, and my family, and the doctors that will treat me.
Second, please hold off on the phone calls for a few days. Email is great for me right now. I'm still having to remind myself that this is really happening, and I am not quite ready to have conversations about it yet. When we do talk, please remember that we had plenty to talk about before I had cancer, and I still want to hear about all of those things.
Last, and this might be the most important thing I ever ask you to do, please make a commitment to do a monthly self breast exam and follow-up with your doctor if something is amiss. (Guys, please encourage the ladies in your life to do so.) In January, I found a lump in my breast entirely by accident. Know what is normal for you and follow up with your doctor when something is off.
I plan to beat this disease. I will fight it, kicking and screaming if I have to, until it runs far, far away, crying for mercy. I may need to lean on you and borrow your strength at times, but I don't plan on allowing this to be any more than a temporary inconvenience in my life.
I will try to keep you posted as things develop. For this purpose, I have set up a blog, which you can find at melnorth.blogspot.com. I will try to post daily in the beginning as things develop and we get more information and a plan of action. If you have any questions, let me know and I'll try to answer them, or at least pass the information along when I get the answers.
Thank you for keeping me in your prayers right now.
Love,
Melissa
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