CANCER-THE FIRST TIME

 I was like millions of other 28 year old females, a working wife and mother with a husband whose job required him to be gone from home often.  My problems were like all those other women's problems, juggling a schedule of work, paying bills, what to feed my 3 year old child for dinner, when would my husband be home to help out with the day to day activities of life.  I was living in a blessed world and didn't even realize it.  In fact you could say that I took it for granted.

    That is until the day when, by a simple twist of fate, I was driving home and I had an itch on my neck and when I rubbed it, I found the lump.

    My profession is in the medical field and at first I did not panic.  I had had several surgeries before, all for benign cysts, so I assumed that this was the case again.  I drove home, called for an appointment with my physician (a surgeon who was my former employer) and went to see him the next day.

Upon examination, he stated that it could be anything, a reaction to an infection, etc. and promptly put me on a course of antibiotics to return in a week.

As the week progressed, I noticed that there seemed to be no change in the size of the lump and in fact it seemed to be getting larger.  With my medical background, I began to realize something was not quite right.  I had no clue as to the nature of the problem, but my intuition nagged me with doubts.

    I discussed the matter with my present employers, who were pathologists, and they seemed to feel there was nothing to worry about and once again my doubts were assuaged.

    Upon my return appointment, my physician stated that the antibiotics had not been effective as he had hoped, so he would need to perform surgery.  Again, my intuition took over and the doubts returned.  I was to about to begin a journey that changed the course of my life and I didn't even realize it.

    So the journey begins......................