Now, I know I gave fair warning that my next blog would be about mammograms, but for those of you who didn’t get that warning….you might want to click out……NOW!

 
 

Today is a pivotal day for me. I know most would say ‘that it’s only Halloween’. But to me, Halloween is about scary things and tombstones. Today I celebrate with milestones!
 
October 31: the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Yes folks, mammogram time! I think mammograms had to be invented by a man. Because no woman in God’s creation ask her fellow sisters to place ‘the girls’ on two pieces of plexi-glass and watch them become a shape that God never intended. Need a visual? How about a plexi-glass waffle iron, as in you can see through it, and you just put too much batter in and it’s falling out the sides. And then the two stupidest things ever spoken, “don’t move’ and “hold your breath”. I know for a fact that this is not God’s plan, He meant something entirely different in Scripture about placing your offerings on the alter! Today I received my results from a mammogram a week ago… more on that later.
 
All joking aside, mammograms save lives. I lost my mother to breast cancer in 2002. I know that this seems harsh, but before she was diagnosed, she was a coward. She had endometrial cancer in 1988, as did her mother 6 months prior. Naturally, she had a full work up upon her diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Blood work, x-rays, scans and yes, a mammogram. Fast forward to 1998…I had a lump removed from my left breast. My mom sat in the waiting room (with my mom-in-law & husband) awaiting the news of my surgery and pathology reports. Praise God, it was non-cancerous. Fast forward to 2000…I went through a couple of really scary health issues in the 2 years since my lumpectomy. With my mom at my side… I finally surrendered to a hysterectomy that January. I will never forget the last morning of my hospital stay. My surgeon came to my room and said “Your pathology reports came in, thank God we did this now – if we had waited 6 months, you would have to have chemo.” My family and I rejoiced! Don’t let me kid you, the recovery sucked! But we all breathed a sigh of relief…
 
In 2001, my mother began to have some really weird problems with ‘the girls’. But she suffered in silence. On a visit to her home (which at the time was a last minute decision on my part, turned out to be a divine appointment on God’s part) I finally was a witness to the discomfort and problems she was having. I pretty much bullied her into going to the doctor. Naturally, they did another full work up: Blood work, x-rays, scans and yes, a mammogram. Now, she had been going to the Dr. for her post-cancer check ups for almost 13 years. But, this was her first mammogram since the one she had in 1988. Her reasoning, who knows!? But she, like many women, believe that if you don’t go – you don’t have to worry about bad news. She was immediately diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer…we were devastated. From January 2001 to her death in January 2002 she existed in a painful agonizing ‘cure’. When she died, the chemo had ravaged her entire body rendering her legs & lungs useless. She was on a ventilator and hadn’t put her feet to the floor in 3 months.
 
I don’t tell you all this to feel sorry for us…I tell you this in celebration of her. October was also her birthday, a pink birthstone and ultimately, a pink ribbon she so proudly wore. When she was diagnosed and then began her treatments, I was at her side like she had done for me so many times. Yes, I was angry with her. Her ignorance and denial of getting a regular mammogram may have cost her her life. She watched and waited with me so many times for pathology reports and surgeon visits and never thought about her own life. But as she sat in the office, she agreed to an experimental treatment and looked me in the eye and said “ I am doing this now so you will never have to. We have to find a cure.” She might have been a coward before cancer, but she was going to go down a fighter.
 
To the women I love, if you are 35 –40….get a mammogram. And to the men, encourage the women in your life to get a mammogram. I know I haven’t painted you a pretty picture about them. And yes, it sucks. But 12 minutes of ‘discomfort’ is nothing compared to 12 months (in my mom’s case) of devastation.
 
Ignorance is not bliss….ignorance is just ignorance and denial is deadly. For two years after my lumpectomy in 1998, I had a mammogram every 6 months. I was able to graduate to once a  year in 2000. And today, I rejoice! For one more year, one more mammogram….all is well! Another ‘clean’ report….I am so glad, my cups runneth over! (couldn’t resist)
 
God loves you & so do I!!!
xoxoxo