Keeping A Breast

Kind of like the adage about seeing an animal with cloven hoofs running toward you and immediately assuming it’s a zebra instead of a horse. For now, these scenarios remain theoretical, and I’m well aware of how blessed that makes me. Not because it could be us next time or we owe to people from the last time, but because it’s the right thing to do. Since going through treatment, I’ve become a magnet for every kind of biting bug, and many bites affect me more than in the past — swelling to the point that it requires no stretch of the imagination at all to take it for another cancerous lump.

Seven years ago, March 18 was a sunny, but cold Friday, and while many people were sleeping off their St. Patrick’s Day hangovers, I was driving to the hospital where I knew I would be told my breast biopsy showed cancer cells. I’m here to mark another year’s passage. And I’m only half-joking when I say she’s Kym 2.0. On a spiritual level, I’m better at remembering what’s important — family, friends, trying to stay healthy.

: All Shall Be Well and All Shall Be BRCA Supreme Court Case Breast Breast Cancer Breast lump Breast reconstruction Cancer cancer diagnosis cancer hair loss Cancer Lesson cancer lessons Cancer resources Cancer treatment Cancer treatment side effects Cancerversary chemo chemo hair loss Chemo port chemo side effects Chemotherapy chemotherapy side effects cost of cancer Doctor's appointment Drug side-effects Estrogen receptor Friendship Genes patented Gratitude Hair Loss HER2/neu husbands and cancer Losing your hair Magnetic resonance imaging Mammogram Mammography Mastectomy Metastasis Myriad Genetics Case Myriad labs Oncology Pinktober Plastic surgery Port Radiology reactions to cancer reactions to cancer diagnosis Reactions to your diagnosis Relay For Life Scars after breast reconstruction Sharing the news Sharing your diagnosis Showering after surgery side effects of chemo Support for cancer patients Surgery for breast cancer survivor TRAM TRAM flap TRAM flap reconstruction TRAM reconstruction Veins

You buy a few new pieces for your wardrobe, or a new shade of nail polish to remind yourself (as if you could forget) of a new obligation on your part–to advocate, pay it forward, and protect the next person from having to go through what you’re facing. The lavender ribbon is the support color for ALL cancer awareness, and maybe we should paint the world lavender. As a good example of what Pat’s talking about, I was unable to find royalty-free clip-art of a lavender ribbon. I chose teal because last month was Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, and I saw very little of the color anywhere.