CHASING CANCER BRINGS HOLIDAY GRATITUDE

What a difference a year makes. Last year, I was writing a ‘Holiday Blawg’ due to my Mom’s diagnosis of Lymphoma two weeks before Christmas. It was very hard for me to put any cheer into the holidays. This year, I am recovering (recovered) from the Whipple procedure due to discovering that I had an IPMN (Introaductal Papillary Mucinous Neoplasm) in my pancreas which is considered a ‘pre-cancerous’ condition. If left untreated, an IPMN can progress to invasive cancer. Considering how deadly pancreatic cancer can be, I am grateful that I was able to rid myself of those nasty cells due to early detection and successful surgery.

My Mom is one year into her diagnosis and recently celebrated her 90th birthday with her 7 children, 17 grandchildren and 13 great grandchildren. She underwent 3 months of chemotherapy and 13 doses of radiation. Apparently it was just enough to put her Lymphoma into remission. She feels great, looks great and the only lingering affect I can see is a wee bit of chemo brain from time to time. She can be forgetful like most her age but she does not forget to be grateful!

With the holidays just around the corner, my ‘blawging’ from last year has turned into just an abundance of gratitude. It was difficult to muster any holiday cheer in 2010 but I can assure you that 2011 will be festive, joyful and thankful for good health. Most of all, I will appreciate the opportunity to spend quality time with loved ones. Yup - no more ‘blawging’ for me - just hugs and smiles around.

Susan Beausang

President, 4women,com (providing fashionable scarves for women and girls with medical hair loss)