By Renay Daigle
“It’s positive,” the doctor said.
How could something so life-changingly negative be labeled “positive?” I had breast cancer. And I was six months pregnant.
I was 32 years old, didn’t smoke, exercised regularly, ate right and had no family history of the disease. I was stunned. I was beyond overwhelmed. But I was not going down without a fight. I was determined to get my baby here safely and raise her.
But it was indeed a fight. The next two years included four chemo treatments, six surgeries, 30 radiation treatments and countless tests. I also had a three-year-old daughter and infant to care for as well as a new consulting business.
That was 23 years ago. This spring, I proudly watched the daughter I was pregnant with graduate from the University of Florida. That new business evolved into an advertising and public relations agency, and we just celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Yet I didn’t write this to report a happy ending. This is a love note to the people just beginning their fights against this cruel disease.
I hope it helps simply to know I was in your shoes, and I’m still here more than two decades later.
You can do this. Fight. While there are no assurances you’ll win, make it your job to get up each day and try. I hope these few things I learned help in some small way:
- Screw the statistics and survival rates – it never hurts to hope.
- Be as positive as possible – even if it doesn’t change the outcome, you’re more pleasant to be around.
- That said, it’s okay for you to feel sorry for yourself sometimes – just make it a short wade instead of a wallow.
- Let people help you and tell them what you really need. It’s not only for you; they need to feel less helpless.
- Break things down into smaller sections. Don’t look at the many things you have to endure until you’re reviewing all you’ve accomplished.
- Take every opportunity to be with people you love and to do things that make you happy.
Whatever it takes, find your way forward.
