A dear friend was just diagnosed with a fairly aggressive form of breast cancer at the age of 31. She is one of the kindest, most generous people I have ever met and I have no idea what I would have done with her during my past 2 years in Michigan- she was my first friend here. She has no family history of any kind of cancer, zero risk factors for breast cancer, and leads a very active and healthy lifestyle. She just found a lump on her breast a few months ago and decided to have it checked out....
Anyway, she is having surgery tomorrow morning, followed by a year of chemotherapy and radiation. She is juggling an in-progress PhD and seemingly endless decisions about treatment, future family planning (due to the toxic effects of chemo), etc.
Please pray for a smooth surgery and recovery for her.
And please do a self breast exam. Soon.
Her phone call to me about her diagnosis was what gave me the courage to tell my often-difficult academic advisor about my baby news this week. It just helped me remember that some things are more important than work. Like a friend's cancer diagnosis and health. Like my baby and family. And what wasn't important was what my advisor thought of me or what comments she had about my decision to start a family. Period. Why do I forget that so often?? Why does it take cancer to help me remember??
