My sister began chemotherapy yesterday. She will be treated with six, three-hour sessions of chemo given through a porta cath, one session about every 21 days. Afterwards, she will begin six weeks of radiation treatments on two tumors found on the left breast, and on the new 'hot spot' found through a scan of the area surrounding her right breast, a portion not removed by the masectomy. It seems harsh to have undergone the violence of a masectomy and then have spots show up on the breast tissue not removed, which could be cancerous.
My first reaction, not spoken to my sister, was she must have had an incompetent surgeon. But, on further reading of others' experiences, I am learning that cancer behaves this way. The surgeon isn't the culprit. Cancer is the enemy. While her body is pumped full of poison to kill cancer cells, I am seeking spiritual tools to combat our mutual enemy (cancer is only one of his weapons) through a book that teaches about prayer, "Prayer, Finding the Heart's True Home" by Richard J. Foster.
Perhaps 'combat' isn't the correct word for prayer. After spending time with God, I don't feel combative at all. I feel comforted. I came away from time spent with Him feeling that He is in control and that nothing happens to a child of God without it first being filtered through Him. Even cancer.
I found this statement by Thomas Merton, in the chapter about Contemplative prayer comforting: 'The message of hope the contemplative (prayer) offers you is not that you need to find your way through the jungle of language and problems that today surround (the task of seeking) God: but that....God loves you, is present in you, lives in you, dwells in you, calls you, saves you, and offers you an understanding and light which are nothing you ever found in books or heard in sermons.'
I need to feel His Real Presence. Thankfully, He said that when we 'seek him with our whole heart, he will be found.'
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Breast Cancer facts
Common Breast Cancer Myths
The first myth pertaining to this disease is that it only affects women.
Second myth that is associated with this disease is that if one has found a lump during an examination, it is cancer.
Third is that it is solely hereditary
The next myth associated with breast cancer is downright ridiculous. Would you believe, that in this day and age, some individuals still think that breast cancer is contagious?
Conversely, some individuals foolishly believe that breast size determines whether or not one gets cancer.
Finally, another myth that is associated with this disease is that it only affects older people. This is not so. Although the chance of getting breast cancer increases with age, women as young as 18 have been diagnosed with the disease.
You can find a number of helpful informative articles on Breast Cancer facts at breast-cancer1.com
Breast Cancer facts
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