SAVE THE BOOBIES; SAVE THE WORLD!!

Everyone has what-if’s during their lifetime..some more than others. I have always been pretty thankful for what God has given me both mentally and physically..to include the tatas… So this month, my what-if, not coincidentally, is: What if I DIDN’T have those curvacious, loveable masses I tend to accidentally bump into people? That thought pierced my brain when I decided to run the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 5K this Saturday with my company.

That decision was inspired by a very typical evening at my home a couple of years ago. The parents invited their usuals over for dinner, dessert, tea, and of course…great convo, company, and memories. I came down the stairs to greet our guests–after taking way too long to get ready (per usual). One of my parents’ old friends attempted to sneak her way passed many of us in the foyer. Before I made it all the way down, I saw her face. I saw her tired eyes, the flesh on her face oozing with exhaustion. And then I saw her wig. I felt the tears force their way through their all-too-familiar passage down my flushed cheeks. I was so saddened; the uninvited visitor that was cancer had left distinct tracks on her usually bright and smiling face. I couldn’t help what I was feeling about a woman I had known my entire life, someone I was always excited to see walking through our front door.

She told none of us. She wanted no pity. She had been married, divorced, and alone for years; and to our surprise, she felt it was acceptable and appropriate to endure the hellish days of chemotherapy, unending doctor’s visits, and the horrific side effects that left her so overwhelmed with pain, nausea, and most notably, uncertainty……alone. Sure, she told my aunt. She figured she would need someone to at least transport her frail body to and fro via car. Why, though? We were family. We ARE family. It was terrible.

So I filed the tears and fears away, grabbed and pulled her close to me, shaking…and she assured me she was OK. Oh, how selfish was I to be the one she had to reassure? She beat it, though. Today, she is cancer-free. But that moment resurfaced for nostalgia’s sake when the pink-ribbon-emblazoned e-mail flashed in my inbox at work. I had run a cancer 5K in London last year, and one for brain cancer last month. This meant more, more than diabetes (and nothing, naturally, tends to mean more than what I have fought for 13 years and going)…

I never ask what-ifs about my sugar intake, my constant rollercoastering weight, and the subconscious fears of slipping into a coma someday. That has been and God-willing, will always be within my control. Cancer is not a switch one can turn on and off, it is not a slap on the wrist, or a less than favorable episode you can neglect and turn your head away from. It is there, it will not magically disappear, and it requires resolve, faith, and hope that not all of us know we’re in possession of. The battle that cancer sets into motion, if one decides he/she will take it on, is the battle of a lifetime, and the most trying task one most likely would ever imagine completing. But it happens every day.

I am grateful to take part in this great event this year…I only have two more days to fundraise, so I urge you to evaluate your what-if’s, realize they are nowhere as miserable as you have always tried to convince yourself.

I will run Saturday morning with my head up to the sky, well-aware of the gifts I take for granted, and aiming to be better at enjoying every minute I am given on this Earth–healthy, happy, and relevant.

Live well, give more, love always.

D

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