More Than What's Going On With Me

"There's more going on here than what's going on with me." 

My pastor has often exhorted our congregation to keep this perspective as we ponder how God may be at work in the difficult situations in our lives.

When I began writing about my breast cancer experience in this blog, part of my motivation was the hope that my experience might be of help to others some day. I could not have imagined how soon that might happen or how close to my heart it would be.

A beloved family member of mine, who is statistically too young to worry about breast health or breast cancer, was nevertheless, more aware and began doing occasional self exams after my diagnosis. She found a lump. Benign tumors called fibro-adenomas are common at her age and are harmless. That's not what it was.

She had a phyllodes tumor. Less than one percent of breast tumors are this type and when they do occur, it is usually in women more than twice her age. Phyllodes tumors can be malignant, benign, or borderline, but even when they are benign, they are not harmless. They are extremely invasive and have to be surgically removed as quickly after diagnosis as possible. They grow so fast that there can be measurable increase in size in just a couple weeks.

So this precious loved one of mine had a lumpectomy less than three months after I did. There was not much I could do to help, but at least I could give her some idea of what to expect and how to prepare. No one else in our extended family had been through this. And I could pray for her.

As it turns out, her surgical experience has been much harder than mine, because although her tumor was benign, her pathology report did not show clear margins. Because these tumors are so aggressive and can recur, she had to have a second surgery a week later, this one more invasive and resulting in a more painful recovery.  

Then she got the discouraging news that her second pathology report showed that one margin was still not completely clear. A consultation with another surgeon for a second opinion confirmed that this scenario with a need for three surgeries is not unusual with phyllodes tumors.  

So her ordeal is still not over. Oh, how I wish it was. We are hoping and praying that her third surgery can be less invasive and that her recovery will be quick and complete. She will need to be closely followed up for the next few years and maybe for life.

She is absolutely a trooper, brave and beautiful, and I'm so proud of her. She has faced this trial in her life with maturity, faith and courage. If God has used any part of my experience to help her, I'm more than happy to have gone through it.