Susan

Susan had annual mammograms since the age of 35. When called back, after her tenth mammogram shortly before Christmas, a recurring dream came to the fore. In this dream she tells her best friend, “I've just been diagnosed with breast cancer.” Thus, the diagnosis held little surprise and confirmed what she already knew, “at some point in my life” she was “going to get breast cancer.” She feels she was lucky; her cancer was discovered early, she did not need radiation or chemotherapy, and she had excellent health care. Susan knew that lumpectomy was considered “best practice” for early-stage breast cancer but decided immediately to have a bilateral mastectomy instead. It was a “deeply personal” decision, she says, “I knew my personality… I didn’t want to worry about it coming back in the other breast.” It turns out that the post-surgical pathology report of both breasts revealed the bilateral mastectomy had been the right choice. Susan now takes tamoxifen and won’t let some minor but annoying weight gain get in the way of living fully and doing purposeful work to support and empower other breast cancer survivors

As a person of deep faith, Susan notes she is blessed with the all the love and support she has received. Long before her own diagnosis, Susan had walked the breast cancer journey with a very close friend in a different city; in turn this friend has been a deep source of support for Susan. As new arrivals in their suburban community, Susan and her family were immediately surrounded by a robust circle of support. Her girlfriends (moms of her kids’ friends) organized prayer sessions and gave her a beautifully boxed collection of their favorite Bible verses. These verses provided deep points of reflection as she waited for her medical appointments. Through friends of friends, an “unbelievable [local] network of support” of breast cancer survivors blossomed. Others organized a food train, as Susan describes, “you just put a cooler on the front porch.” These friends carpooled her kids to their activities. All of this support, lasting the rest of the school year, took a huge burden off her plate so she could fully heal and return to work.

Friends and family were not the only blessings in this journey. Just before her diagnosis, Susan had accepted a new job. Her “to be” supervisor let her know, “we believe that God puts people in the positions where they belong… we will wait for you until you get through this and support you through this.” He also put her in touch with someone who had started a breast center group. This person eventually led Susan to a position directing a burgeoning organization to serve breast cancer patients in her community. Leaving “all the other junk outside” extremely competitive health care organizations came together to fund and develop a non-profit service to support the financial, emotional and spiritual needs of breast cancer survivors and their co-survivors. They have a 24/7 hotline, and provide patient advocates, metastatic breast cancer support groups and retreats, and healthcare to people who can’t afford it. Susan describes her work as faith in action: “God's hand has been in every part of this,” noting, “too many stars have aligned,” for “some greater purpose.”

Since cancer, Susan looks “at life very differently.” Coming face-to-face with her mortality deepened her faith. Before cancer, she was so busy as a working mom and active member of her community. She has reframed once annoying tasks like laundry as blessings, “I'm so thankful that God has given me this family and these children to do laundry for.” She took small moments to recognize “God winks” in the colors of fall leaves. But cancer made her slow down and breathe it all in. Things that used to matter a great deal like, “if your child's birthday party looks like it came off Pinterest,” don’t really matter. “What matters,” she says, “are your faith and your family and how you care for others and that's it.”