The Scare: A Personal Journal of Fear and Faith
There are a lot of miracles in our lives, and being a survivor of a potentially deadly disease is certainly one of them. One thing that I have found is that we breast cancer survivors are a big group! For years my closest experience with breast cancer had been with my aunt, Aleha HaShalom [peace be upon her], who did not make it. Methods of detection and of treatment have improved. Before my journey started, I knew that a close friend of mine, as well as the mother of one of my girl’s friends, were survivors-both had mastectomies. I also knew that two of my clients were survivors and another one had had some tissue removed. As I made my situation known I found out that my Tehillim friend is a survivor. Another daughter’s friend’s mother and another client told me they had a scare and needed tissue removed. At the cardiologist’s office, the billing director told me that she had a double mastectomy. At the podiatrist’s office as well, the receptionist is a survivor. This is a common disease and it is treatable when found early. I continue to be the poster child, telling everyone I meet, to get their yearly mammogram and sonogram. That knowledge saved my life. I also continue to tell people, that somehow HaKadosh Baruch Hu gives us the ability to add stuff to our lives that there doesn’t seem time to handle! After all, He is the creator of time, He knows how to allocate it and we just have to learn how to use it.
Excerpt from page 173-174 of “The Scare: A Personal Journal of Fear and Faith” (used with permission)