I AM...BLESSED!

"When I look back over my LIFE...I have a TESTIMONY!"

EVERY morning I WAKE...
Reminds me...

"I...AM...BLESSED!"

It doesn't matter...
If it's...
SUNNY...
RAINING...

"I AM STILL HERE!"

BLESSED!

I can continue to LOVE...My Child.
(Ahem...Young Woman!)

BLESSED!

God has "allowed" us,
Almost four MORE years together.
("GRACE!")
Since my Breast Cancer Diagnosis.

BLESSED!

"Pink Sistahs"...

Who SUPPORT,
Who STRENGTHEN,

Each Other.

IN MY LIFE...

BLESSED!
(That I Am!)

You LEARN...

How to

APPRECIATE

LIFE...

After SURVIVING...

A DISEASE,

That has TAKEN...

SO MANY!

Simple Things...

The JOY of LAUGHTER...

Sights...Sounds...

TRULY...

I...AM...BLESSED!

And,

TOMORROW...

My FIRST Board Meeting!

For, "Illinois Lottery, Ticket For A Cure"

NOW...

I WILL have a SAY,

What BREAST CANCER Programs...

The Ticket Proceeds will BENEFIT.

I'll Say It AGAIN...

I...AM...BLESSED!

MY JOURNEY...

ALL Part Of God's PLAN.

I WILL Continue To...

SPEAK
TEACH
ENCOURAGE

Until there IS A Cure.

"I AM...BLESSED!"

YES!

Until Next Time...

"You have TURNED for Me my Mourning into DANCING!"
Psalms 30:11

True..."STRENGTH!"

This Blog Is Written For My Daughter...

When I tell people about my Breast Cancer Walk,
How MUCH it WEAKENED me.
How DIFFICULT it was to OVERCOME.

How I DIDN'T Know...

From DAY to DAY...

IF I'd even SURVIVE IT!

They ALWAYS say to me,
"You're SO Strong!"

I Can HONESTLY Tell You...
"I AM NOT!"

I was TAUGHT...
From as EARLY as I can REMEMBER...
To Put...

"One foot in FRONT of the OTHER!"

WALK...Towards your HEALING...
WALK...Towards ANY Obstacle...
You May Be FACING!

My Mother DID...
Robbie Watson Banks Cannady.
EVERYDAY OF HER LIFE!

No MATTER What OBSTACLE...
She FACED.

She put...
"One foot in FRONT of the OTHER!"
And, "CONQUERED" It!

After FIVE Children,
She RETURNED to School.
Received her GED...Certifications...
And, had a SUCCESSFUL Career in Education,
Lasting OVER 25 Years.

She, "BRAVED" her FINAL Walk with Cancer...
That Way!

"One foot in FRONT of the OTHER!"

With such GRACE...Humility...
It Was INSPIRING!
(Little did I Know...3 years LATER...I would NEED her Example!)

Her Mother...
My Grandmother...
Doris Watson.

In a TIME...During the 50's...
LEFT an ABUSIVE Husband.
(Back Then...You STOOD By Your Man...REGARDLESS!)
With a Child(My Mom)...In Tow.
Her "Only" Skills...
(By The "World's" Standards!)
"HER HANDS"...

She put...

"One foot in FRONT of the OTHER!"

And, "scrubbed" floors...
At Rush Presbyterian Hospital,
For OVER 20 Years.
While simultaneously...
Working as a Maid,
For YEARS for a Family in LaGrange.
 RAISING A Child Alone.

My Grandmother...

"Braved" Her Walk With Cancer the SAME Way...

"One foot in FRONT of the OTHER!"

Her GRACE....Humility...
Also, INSPIRING!
(Although, at 17...I DIDN'T Understand...That!)

SO...

BEFORE...
YOU...
SAY,

"You're SO Strong!"

KNOW
THAT

"TRUE STRENGTH"

Walked BEFORE Me.

In the EXAMPLE.
In the IMAGES.

Of MY MOTHER...
MY GRANDMOTHER...

That's WHY...

I'M ABLE...

"To put ONE foot in FRONT of the OTHER!"

My Darling Daughter, "So CAN You!"
(You have the "gene" too...For True "Strength"...Use It!)


Until Next Time...

"For you have ARMED me with STRENGTH for the BATTLE"
2 Samuel 22:40

AWESOME!!!

MY...GOD...IS...AWESOME!

I Woke up THIS Morning...
With the RENEWED Knowledge,
Of that FACT.

ON...MY...MIND!

Since my Breast Cancer Diagnosis...

I...JUST...NEVER...KNOW!

How I'll FEEL...

Physically...Emotionally...
(I KEEP telling you FOLKS...It's Lifelong!)

When...I...Wake.

My JOINTS are usually STIFF,
(Can anyone say...80 year old!)

From the medication I take,
To KEEP me, "Cancer Free".

My EMOTIONS...
(Can anyone say...Rollercoaster!)

BUT...TODAY...

I WOKE UP...

With NO Pain.
FILLED with such, "JOY".

AN AMAZING FEAT...I Must Say!
(My most RECENT Surgery...Just a MONTH Ago!)

WITH THE SONG...

"MY GOD IS AWESOME..."

Playing...Over...And,...Over...

IN MY HEAD!

I CAN TELL...
I CAN FEEL IT...

Something..."WONDERFUL"...

IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN!

How Do I Know...

You May Ask?

GOD...

Whispered...

It into My SPIRIT...

As I OPENED...

MY...

EYES!

That's

WHY
I
HAD

"NO PAIN"

"JUST JOY!"

 THIS MORNING...

"AWESOME!"

Stay Tuned...

Until Next Time...

"Though now you do not SEE Him, Yet BELIEVING, you REJOICE with JOY inexpressible, and FULL of Glory".
1 Peter 1:8

LIGHT...

I woke up this morning...
FEELING...LIGHT!
(No...I'm NOT talking about my weight!)

Since my Breast Cancer Diagnosis...
November 2009.
There's been a "tug of war"
On my FINANCES!

OFF...1 and, a half years for Treatment.
OFF...5 weeks...Reconstruction...Part 1.
OFF...(Just Recently)..4 weeks...Reconstruction...Part 2.
(Are you...NOTICING...A Trend, here?)

So, ANY...Single Working Adult...Should Be able,
TO RELATE.

My FINANCES...
(Que...Sera...Sera!)
As a Child...I LOVED Musicals...Hence, the reference!

I am a Nurse.
And, EVERYTIME I return to work...
"Oops...There IS another...Surgery!"
(I have ONE Final Surgery...looming in 4 months!)

ANGRY?
NO!
Just gets a "little" frustrating at times!
I've LEARNED to LIVE...
DIFFERENTLY!
I Believe...FRUGAL...Would be the word I'm looking for!
(But, Ladies...Don't feel BAD for me!)
I've SHOPPED...And, SHOPPED...
Before ALL this happened,
To LAST...ME...A Lifetime!

What I'm TRYING to Say..
(Using a "little" humor to "lighten" the mood...)

CANCER...CHANGES...EVERYTHING!

I SELDOM...Worried about MONEY,
As a Nurse...OVERTIME...
Although, physically taxing,
Provided...Freedom...From worry.

Cancer...Changed...That!
(My MIND...Is WILLING...But, my BODY...)

I SELDOM...Worried about my HEALTH,
Now, the FEAR...Of "It"...RETURNING...
Is ALWAYS...In the back of my mind!
(I have a FRIEND...Round 2...Breast Cancer...Returned!)

I KEEP A "SMILE" ON MY FACE...
(But, "underneath"...)

I WRITE THIS BLOG...

To give you a "window"...

What WE...As Cancer Survivors,

LIVE WITH...

EVERYDAY!

BUT...ON "THIS" SUNDAY MORNING...

I Woke Up...

Feeling..."LIGHT!"

MY "SPIRIT"...SOARS!

Yolanda Adams...Has a song,

"He's KEPT Me...In the Midst Of It All!"

YES...HE HAS!
YES... HE WILL!

Until Next Time...

"God is in the MIDST of Her, She shall NOT be MOVED!"
Psalms 46:5

Today...She Spoke!

I TOOK THE DAY OFF!

I Volunteer with The American Cancer Society,
Action Network in Illinois.
The asked me to SPEAK before The Illinois General
Assembly...
Department Of Health And Human Services,
Illinois Health Appropriations Committee.
(This Committee deals with Public Health Issues, and Funding)

Wow...That was a mouthful!

The Committee was ATTEMPTING to DETERMINE...

Just how MUCH...
Of the Governor's PROPOSED Cuts...
They would VOTE For.
Governor Quinn PROPOSED...
3.3 Million in cuts to IBCCP Funding.
If you've READ my Blog...
You are AWARE that Program,

SAVED MY LIFE!

The Program PROVIDES...
TOTAL Care for Women with Breast Cancer.

REGARDLESS OF INCOME!

LACK...Of...Insurance...

Is what DETERMINES your ELIGIBILITY.

SO CUT...WHAT?

I HAD TO SPEAK!

CUTS=DEATH!
(And, NO...I'm NOT being OVERLY Dramatic!)

After WAITING almost FOUR Hours...

It was MY TURN!

I closed my eyes...

And, ASKED the Lord...

TO USE ME!

It's IMPORTANT...
That the LEGISLATORS,
HAVE A FACE...TO PUT ON THIS DISEASE.

WE ARE MORE THAN JUST "NUMBERS" ON A BUDGET PROPOSAL!

They NEED to KNOW...
LIVES WILL BE AFFECTED!
LIVES "HANG" IN THE BALANCE,
BASED ON THE DECISIONS THEY MAKE!

I UNDERSTAND...
They have to be FISCALLY Responsible.

But,

As I "expressed" to them...
A MORAL responsibility,
Should "trump" that!

1 in 8  Women...
(I kid you not!)
Are DIAGNOSED with this disease EVERYDAY!

We Did NOTHING...
To DESERVE it.

I BELIEVE God "allows" things to occur in your LIFE...

TO SEE...

WHAT YOU WILL DO.
WHO YOU WILL BECOME.
AND, HOW IT WILL "TRANSFORM"...
YOUR LIFE...YOUR FAITH.

I told a "Sister" from Susan G. Komen TODAY...

BEING DIAGNOSED with BREAST CANCER...

ALLOWED MY "BREAKTHROUGH"'.
ALL THE "STUFF"...
THAT HAD NO PLACE...
TAKING UP "RESIDENCE" IN MY LIFE...

GONE!

I WAS HUMBLED...
I WAS "NAKED" FOR ALL THE WORLD TO SEE.
"STRIPPED"...BARE!

BUT...

I BECAME A "BETTER" VERSION OF...ME!

I AM AN ADVOCATE FOR THIS DISEASE.
I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS CAUSE!

I PRAY...
THAT "ONE" DAY...
WE LIVE IN A WORLD WITHOUT...
BREAST CANCER.

IMAGINE THAT.

TODAY SHE SPOKE.

Until Next Time...

"TO GOD BE THE GLORY!"

A FRIEND...IN NEED!

If you are anything like me...
You've HEARD things like this,
All your LIFE.

"In each LIFE...A little RAIN must FALL"
"It's ALWAYS darkest BEFORE the DAWN"

From "well meaning"...
Parents,
Grandparents.

Although,
When I was DIAGNOSED with Breast Cancer...
It DIDN'T rain...
IT POURED!

But, I've LEARNED,
There IS truth...
In ALL those OLD sayings.

On one such RAINY Day...
During my Chemotherapy,
I was feeling OVERWHELMED!
So, I drove to Mercy Hospital...
For a Breast Cancer Support Group.

As LUCK would have it...

It was the WRONG Day!

And...With TEARS welling up in my eyes...
THREATENING...To "spill" out...
The Nurse said, "Wait!"

There IS a Class in the Conference Room,

Called, "Look Good...Feel Better"

The Class is given by The American Cancer Society.

She went on to say...
"It teaches women going THROUGH Chemotherapy,"
How to "camouflage"...
The LOSS of your...
Hair...Eyebrows...Eyelashes.
Make-Up Classes.

NOT quite what I had in mind!

But...at the very LEAST,
There would be Women,
Who LOOKED like ME...
BALD,
And, ENDURING Chemotherapy.
(Yes...I ENDURED!)

So...I took...

A LEAP OF FAITH!

There were at least six women there.

In EVERY color of the Rainbow.

I "gravitated" towards a "Sister" who was there.
Who "appeared" even sicker than me!

She LAUGHED...TALKED...
Had FUN with her Make-Up!

Virginia.
(She won't mind me using her "real" name!)

We spoke...
Didn't exchange numbers.
But, when I returned home,
I mentioned her to my daughter.

At the next Support Group...
(Finally, had the date right!)

There she was.

We became "fast" friends!

Virginia had 1 Round of Chemo left...
I had 3...(I have to admit...just a "little" jealous!)
She was ALMOST done!

We DISCOVERED...
We had ALOT in COMMON.

Our Daughters are around the same age...

Both Of Us...

PROFESSIONAL,
STRONG,
INDEPENDENT,
(Did I mention...OPINIONATED?)
Women!

"Struggling" with CANCER.

DEALING...
With the RECENT LOSS...
Of OUR Moms.

NOW...

We're "Sisters"
(In EVERY sense!)

WE LAUGH,
WE CRY,
WE PRAY,
Together!

WE ENCOURAGE,
WE UPLIFT,
WE SUPPORT,
Each Other!

(It DOESN'T go AWAY after Treatment is OVER!)

We SHARE...ALL that we HAVE.

I have a FRIEND...

FOR LIFE!

Who has WALKED in my SHOES.
Who has ALSO come THROUGH...
VICTORIOUS!
On the "Other" Side,
Of Breast Cancer.

Who QUITE Simply Put...

UNDERSTANDS!

A FRIEND...INDEED!

Until Next Time...

"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, But there is a friend,
who sticks closer than a brother"
Proverbs 18:24