I dutifully went to see my oncologist last month for a check up, and she said, "Oh, you're four years and eleven months out!" Though I knew that, it hadn't occurred to me how close I really was to the FIVE YEARS mark. Five years, of course, is that golden anniversary where the imminent possibility of the cancer returning has passed, and I can drop down to seeing the doctor only once a year. Tomorrow, May 14, will mark being five years cancer-free.
Five years. Cancer-free.
This morning my parents, husband and kids were all in church when I thanked my congregation for having walked with me through that time, and through the years since. On this Mother's Day, I marveled that here I stand, healthy, vibrant, and with two busy, noisy, and so very dear children who delight me to no end, who grin when they see me and come running toward me in the way that toddlers do. Five years ago, they were only a hope I didn't know would ever come to pass.
Hodgkin's Lymphoma treatments threatened my fertility. At this time five years ago, I had never tried to have a child and didn't know if I could, if infertility had in fact resulted from my chemotherapy.
Breast cancer, which is hormone receptive (at least mine was), taunted the possibility of getting pregnant, threatening to come back with a vengeance if I ever got pregnant (due to the hormones that accompany pregnancy). Then of course it took one breast, then the other, and with it my dreams of breastfeeding my babies.
But neither of them could take away motherhood from me. I win, cancer. I WIN.
Grace Victoria is so named because she represented for me a true VICTORY (Victoria) over cancer, and because she reflects God's amazing GRACE in my life - both in saving it, and in all the ways God has used me since to fulfill God's purposes.
Today, as I watch my gracious victory child grow and learn and develop, and her brother right behind her, I marvel that I would be here today at all, and that I would have these two amazing humans, these post-cancer babies that have blessed me and my life so richly.
And so on this Mother's Day, on this eve of my 5-year "cancer-versary," I am giving thanks all the more heartily for the gift of life, for the immense gift of being a mother to these two, and for the lessons both cancer and my children have taught me about living. Cancer tried numerous times to take a lot from me, but it didn't. And I have a whole lot of grace and laughter in my life to prove it.
Thank you God, for the gift of being mother to these beautiful beings. Thank you for my life, and for theirs, and that I get to watch life blossom and grow in their little lives every day. I am truly blessed.
I hope you will join me in celebrating this milestone in my life by donating to help people who have not been as lucky as I am, or who are still working on getting there. Consider donating to one of these organizations:
Metavivor - http://www.metavivor.org/
Metastatic breast cancer is what people die from, yet less than 5% of funding for breast cancer research goes to metastatic breast cancer. 100% of a donation to Metavivor will go toward this life-saving research.
Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester - http://bccr.org/
This local organization helped me through my diagnosis, treatments, and follow-up by way of providing resources, a mentor, educational events, support groups, and even a few just-for-fun events for young survivors. I now serve as one of the mentors for newly diagnosed women. They do great work!
(I looked for one that helps Hodgkin's/lymphoma, or childhood cancer, but didn't find one in the time I have before the end of nap time. If you know of a good one, donate there!)
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