By God's Grace

I, who always used to gravitate toward health and fitness, would flatter myself that I was too healthy to ever get a bad disease. Then it happened! A lump - most inurbane - had decided to invade one of my breasts. There was nothing perspicuous about that tumor. My first whole month consisted of going from one test to another just to determine if it was malignant. In my new surreal world, everything seemed to alienate me from normalcy. Surely, I thought, my body is simply being capricious. I kept believing that the crazy tumor would be ruled benign. Surely my worries and my biggest looming fear soon would dissipate. Then I got the verdict – second stage cancer. Told it was a less invasive type, I felt a little reassured. But after surgery, another test revealed I was high risk for it returning. My condition is far from transitory. If it lived inside me still, it would attack with vengeance were it to grow. I did the radiation I was told to do but turned down the chemotherapy. The tumor, after all, had been removed. Through prayer, I believe God guided me to sources that informed me of other precautions better for me than chemotherapy. I can make bad genetics my scapegoat, along with the weirdness of estrogen, which drove it to my breast. My body betrayed me, but millions are victims of this disease each year. For now, I am surviving and doing it wonderfully. I search for more preventative solutions through such things as exercise and healthy eating. Perhaps I mainly get by with support from friends and family and most certainly, from simply LOVING life that by God’s grace, victorious I may remain! Revised for Julie Rodeheaver's "I'm a Survivor" Contest