Sue's Thoughts From the Other Side - 2/21/2006

I woke up this morning with a nagging thought that I couldn't quite grab onto. You know the way it is when you are sure you've forgotten something BIG. You can hear it from just outside your conscious mind, waving and stomping, and really annoyed at being ignored.

Well I finally remembered, right in the middle of swimming my 5th lap at the gym. Today - February 21, 2006 - is the 10th anniversary of my second mastectomy. Ten years ago today they removed my last breast as well as 25 lymph nodes that tested positive for cancer. Ten years ago today I was pretty sure I had bought the farm. And you know what, I'm STILL HERE, and cancer free.

I just needed to reach out to the folks here. To Evie, and Jim and Marla and Anne and Chuck and everybody else whose names I'll always carry in my heart if not on the tip of my tongue. I want to thank our angels too, especially Cindy, I never met her, but I'll never forget her story.

You all taught me so much. To forget statistics and percentages, and to live life. Not as a cancer victim, but as a cancer survivor. Jim was right all those years ago when I first e-mailed him all devastated and crying....I could and did survive, and you know what I'm a better person for the fight. And Evie, was right too, of course what else? She taught me just by meeting her over cheesy bread at our favorite diner. Evie embraced me with such warmth, and I saw such a greatness of spirit in her that I clearly saw that anyone who really lives life for each and every day they are alive won't ever be beaten by cancer or anything else. There is a strength of spirit here, and in everybody who has "danced with this dragon" that I still find amazing. Thank you for being here, and for being the really amazing people you all are.

Love,

Sue Gazzara