Cancer: It's Tough to Break the News

  (This is a rerun from March 12, 2012, when I had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.)

I got my hair cut last week. Funny thing about cancer. Your life doesn't stop. You get up, go to work, clean your house and grocery shop. When you're sitting in the doctor's office and in the quiet puddles of midnight, that's the time when cancer is real and dangerous.

While shampooing my hair, my stylist recounted the tale of her son's bicycle accident, which sent him to the emergency room (and sent his mother through the roof!). At the end of the story, she jokingly added, "Beat that!"

And that's when I told her I had breast cancer. Boy, that's a conversation killer. Erica's eyes filled with tears. "No, no, not you!" she cried, as I hugged her tight. This is the ritual I go through every time I have to tell someone in my life that I have breast cancer.

The hardest people to tell have been my mom and daughters. It cuts to the bone when you have to hurt loved ones. I feel so bad for them; that they have to go through this. When you're a mother, your focus is never on yourself. It's on how your children are affected. In this fight, I will be strong and show them comfort.

Before Jesus finished His time walking this planet, He told the disciples that they weren't going to be alone. God was sending a Comforter to dwell in their hearts. This Holy Spirit would guide and protect them in their lives, helping them to make wise decisions and stay close to the Father. As we journey, the Holy Spirit will do for us today what He did for Jesus' disciples. We are never alone.

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Notable Quote:

John 14:16 (KJV)
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;