Beth was my best friend and my sister-in-law. She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer 1997 at age 28. She found a lump while pregnant, but they did nothing until Jessica was born. Four children and a brain injury, my brother killed himself over the stress of everything. Beth died almost a year later, but my story does not end there. Three month before Beth died, I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, at age 32, with 5 children of my own. Determined not to die or even let Beth know I had it, I found a pea size lump in September, 1980. When they removed it on the 29th it was the size of a golf ball. The tests said it was very aggressive. I am still not sure why I am still alive, but I could not see God taking me away from my children and a loving, faithful husband who had been through so much already. More surgery, Chemo, a positive attitude and almost 20 years later, I am still here. I have had great reconstruction! (I still need to find a great tattoo artist – just for ME!)
Aunt Jan died a few years later, and then my Mom. Friends have also gone through Breast Cancer after me, and many have stated that watching me with a positive attitude gave them strength.
I am thankful that God gave me the ability to assist Beth and her family when they needed me, taught me to be loving throughout this horrible ordeal, and helped me to be a better person because of Breast Cancer. I am always willing to help a friend, or a friend of a friend, near or far, when called upon, with a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen with and a pot of soup.
Burlington, WI
