One Big “C” — and a Lot of Little “G’s” Ro — chester, Minnesota

Like millions of women (2.5 million this year alone, according to the World Health Organization) I wasn’t expecting my next few months to be upended. I was getting everything in place for my retirement from college teaching at the end of this semester, planning trips to New Zealand and Africa, and re-landscaping our yard with George. I didn’t expect my next stop to be the Mayo Clinic—fond of it though I am.

But here I am, on a beautiful spring day, in downtown Rochester, looking to the Mayo folks to help me ditch an unwanted new traveling companion—estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer. I’ll be here for surgery on May 25 and then recovering here for about two weeks following that. Additional reconstructive surgery and radiation will possibly follow a few months from now.

So, that’s the news about the “Big C”—but I want to spend the rest of this post talking about all the little “g’s”—my Gratitude list. These are all the big and small blessings, tender mercies, coincidences that aren’t really coincidences, and other occurrences that continue to remind me of how blessed I am, and that I am not alone in this journey. So here goes my partial list of little “g’s”:

1. I am grateful for the example of my late husband, Mark, who personified the ability to remain graceful, kind, positive and faithful in the midst of pain and physical infirmity. My physical challenges are not half of what his were, but if I can be half as graceful and gracious as he was, I’ll be a good patient.

2. I’m grateful for good timing. I’m glad I didn’t have to face this while Mark was ill. Also, as some of you are aware, our daughter received her own cancer diagnosis late last year. Her successful post-surgical treatments at Mayo ended just last week.

3. I’m grateful to be left-handed. For reasons no one quite understands, most breast cancer occurs on the left-hand side. Mine’s on the right—but I’m left-handed, so I’ll still have the use of my dominant hand and arm while I’m recovering from the surgery.

4. I’m grateful that, over 30 years ago, a dedicated health care professional taught me how to do a proper breast self-exam. If I have one message about this experience, it’s this: do your self-exams, ladies. I caught this cancer myself, in between mammograms--and I caught it early.

5. I am grateful for the friends I have and the stories they’ve shared. As news of my cancer has begun to get around, I’ve heard from women who have had similar experiences. They’ve called, visited, taken me to lunch and held Zoom meetings with me. Their stories have given me hope, inspiration, and dozens of practical ideas about how to manage this. I hope to talk to even more of these remarkable women—and if you’re one of them, I’d love to hear from you. I’m also grateful for many other friends who have expressed their love and support. Thank you all.

6. I’m grateful for my husband, George, and his love, support and willingness to take this journey with me. I already knew he was a keeper, but about a month ago, when I saw him start stockpiling gourmet soup mixes and researching mastectomy pillows, my excellent taste was reaffirmed.

So, that’s my “g” list—and as you can see, it’s MUCH longer than the “C” list. It’s also stronger and smarter and way more joyful. I’m definitely going to sit in the “g” car on this train ride…and I’ll post updates about my journey from time to time.