When Little Ma, Zonna, Nina, and I (The Golden Girls) went on our cruise in September, we ran into a very nice couple from Kentucky. I can only remember their first names, Will and Sylvia, but they were such sweet people. One day Sylvia saw me tucking my cell phone into my bra (which is where a lot of women carry theirs) and she very gently reprimanded me in her lovely Southern accent, "Ah, Honey. Don't wear your cell phone there. That can cause breast cancer." Here was a complete stranger advising me to stop doing something that I had done for years - and by golly, I took my phone out immediately and put it in my pocket, and that's where it has been ever since. In another one of Jenna's earlier posts, she listed a link to a Dr. Oz program, showing women with breast cancer. Amazingly enough, all of their tumors were exactly where they had worn their cell phones in their bras. My tumor is exactly where I wore mine. Nuff said. If you are carrying yours there, take it out. Please.
In October, I went to a garage sale. It was being run by a nice lady, who had several pink breast cancer items for sale on a table. We began talking about them and she told me she was a cancer survivor. I mentioned that I had not had a mammogram in 2012 because I had read somewhere that women over the age of 60 didn't need an exam every year and could now go every four years. Before 2012, I had religiously went every year for twenty years. She looked stunned, and then emphatically declared that I needed to go get checked - NOW. So I did. Again, a complete stranger was advising me to do something I wasn't aware needed to be done.
After I learned of my positive results, I wrote a thank you note to her and took it to her house. I wanted to get her name for my journal, since she was an important part in my getting an early diagnosis. Her mom was at her house dog-sitting, but said she would give her the letter. Oh, her name is Robin.
To get a second opinion, we called Dr. Ghosh's office at 10:30 the day after we got the results and his staff had us in to see him at 2:00 that afternoon! He spent about two hours with us, discussing what the best possible option would be for me. What are the chances that I could get into see one of the very top oncologists that quickly? Somebody was sure looking out for me that day.
These are just a few of the great people who have come into my life and made such a huge difference. Remember, all three were complete strangers to me.
FYI; Dad stopped at my house for a little bit last evening. I told him. He handled it very quietly and without any fuss. He immediately went on to talk about other subjects, so I'm not sure if he totally got what I had said, or if he was handling it his own way. But he didn't go all emotional on me - so that's a good thing, right?
JUST A LITTLE NONSENSE HERE: It appears that Alec has an unusual talent (very much like my late mother). He sees colors around people. Jenna was talking to him one day and asked him about this. He said, "yes!", and the proceeded to tell her who was what - Mommy(Jenna) is white, Grandpa Lonnie is orange, Mike is green, his aide at school is blue and purple, and Grandma "Jane" (me) is pink and white. My mom did the the very same thing - associating people with colors. My sister Sandy was yellow and sister Judy was blue-green. We can't remember what everyone else was but I would love to know what color she saw around me. It would be a huge hoot if she also had seen pink and white. Wouldn't it be fun to look at someone and see a beautiful color surrounding them. Interesting.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL