3 Years

3 Years

Everyone has some sort of before-and-after event in their life. Some have more than one. Some have to think about what their event is. Mine happened three years ago. I tend to call it pre/post chemo because it’s easier than saying pre/post cancer. I was told in August 3 years ago that I had breast cancer. Three years ago today I found out that I had triple negative breast cancer. Three years ago tomorrow I was told I would have to receive an echo, port, chemo, surgery, possible radiation, and would be off work for the next 7 months and I only had a week to prepare.

At that moment, I became one of many statistics

• One in eight women who develop breast cancer

• One of the 9% under 45 that develop breast cancer

• One in 100,000 women who develop triple negative breast cancer

• One of 17% that develop lymphedema after surgery

• One of the 1-4% of cancer survivors who develop a second unrelated cancer (the skin cancer spots on each of my big toes

• One of the over 50% of cancer patients who undergo chemo

• One in eleven Americans with PTSD

• Hoping to be one of the 77% that survive 5 years after TNBC

I’m also one of the many people whose Hogwarts letter must have gotten lost by a directionally challenged owl. Unfortunately that means I missed the Hogwarts Express today. The muggle version I visited in December will have to suffice.