-my wonderful Grandmother (my Mom's Mom) who died suddenly and unexpectedly on the morning of June 23, 2010...my last day of chemo.
she told me to "write all of that down" because I "just might help someone else who's going through it".
-my good friend and neighbor, Diane G...who lovingly dressed my wounds after the double mastectomy and orchestrated the "meals on wheels" post surgery dinner deliveries AND my "coming out wig party" for my 40th birthday.
She also said that I "should write all of that down" because I "just might help someone else who's going through it".
-my husband for being Mr. (kind of) Wonderful...for always telling me I was beautiful...
boobs...no boobs. hair...no hair (though he has never seen my new boobs and kindly requested not to see me bald. hmmmm. oh well. I don't blame him. If I had my druthers, I'd "opt out" too. ugh)
-my dog for all the kisses, snuggles and silliness
-my parents for "dropping everything" and always rushing to my side whenever I needed them...even though I was a "devil child" growing up.
- Ed and Marsha Droste, and Lynne Austin...for swooping in immediately after my breast cancer diagnosis...and being my super heroes!
-Marsha's sister who pulled some strings and got me a private hospital room
-all of my friends...old and new...to them I owe my sanity and sense of humor
- the radiologist who read my mammogram and ultrasound, Dr. Michael Portillo...though both he and my gynecologist said my tumor did not feel like cancer...he also said it didn't look like cancer on the imaging scans...he knew enough to ask my family history and insist that I have a biopsy...this is the man who I believe ultimately saved my life.
-my KICK ASS team of doctors and surgeons...Dr. Kathleen Allen, Dr. Nuruddin Jooma, Dr. Hitesh Patel, Dr. Stephanie Van Zandt, Dr. Eric Egozi, Dr. Susan Minton at Moffitt, Dr. Derrick Borecky, Dr. Anmarie Moore and Morton Plant Hospital in downtown Clearwater, Florida.
-the many caring and compassionate nurses that I've met along the way...especially the one who lives across the street...Debbie...she and her sister made sure I got the "first class treatment" at Morton Plant
She also said that I "should write all of that down" because I "just might help someone else who's going through it".
-my husband for being Mr. (kind of) Wonderful...for always telling me I was beautiful...
boobs...no boobs. hair...no hair (though he has never seen my new boobs and kindly requested not to see me bald. hmmmm. oh well. I don't blame him. If I had my druthers, I'd "opt out" too. ugh)
-my dog for all the kisses, snuggles and silliness
-my parents for "dropping everything" and always rushing to my side whenever I needed them...even though I was a "devil child" growing up.
- Ed and Marsha Droste, and Lynne Austin...for swooping in immediately after my breast cancer diagnosis...and being my super heroes!
-Marsha's sister who pulled some strings and got me a private hospital room
-all of my friends...old and new...to them I owe my sanity and sense of humor
- the radiologist who read my mammogram and ultrasound, Dr. Michael Portillo...though both he and my gynecologist said my tumor did not feel like cancer...he also said it didn't look like cancer on the imaging scans...he knew enough to ask my family history and insist that I have a biopsy...this is the man who I believe ultimately saved my life.
-my KICK ASS team of doctors and surgeons...Dr. Kathleen Allen, Dr. Nuruddin Jooma, Dr. Hitesh Patel, Dr. Stephanie Van Zandt, Dr. Eric Egozi, Dr. Susan Minton at Moffitt, Dr. Derrick Borecky, Dr. Anmarie Moore and Morton Plant Hospital in downtown Clearwater, Florida.
-the many caring and compassionate nurses that I've met along the way...especially the one who lives across the street...Debbie...she and her sister made sure I got the "first class treatment" at Morton Plant
- a co-worker who lost her battle with breast cancer, Kelly Jo Dowd...for being the voice in my head, telling me to "get that lump checked"
- the actress Christina Applegate...for going public with her breast cancer scare and BRCA positive status...her choice of having a prophylactic double mastectomy helped bring this surgical option to my attention long before I was diagnosed, which helped me make a quick, well informed decision about how to aggressively fight my own breast cancer.
-Kris Carr...for writing those fabulous, informative "Crazy Sexy Cancer" books!!! After reading the first one...which I did in one night...I chose to laugh...well, after I spent a long time crying ;) She is an amazing woman...she shined a positive, twinkling light on what started out as a very dark and terrifying place.
-And last but certainly not least...an EARnormous SHOUT OUT to all of the hard and alt. rock bands living in my ipod…they screamed for me AND with me, and helped bang my head back in to sanity by drowning out all of the scary thoughts.
- the actress Christina Applegate...for going public with her breast cancer scare and BRCA positive status...her choice of having a prophylactic double mastectomy helped bring this surgical option to my attention long before I was diagnosed, which helped me make a quick, well informed decision about how to aggressively fight my own breast cancer.
-Kris Carr...for writing those fabulous, informative "Crazy Sexy Cancer" books!!! After reading the first one...which I did in one night...I chose to laugh...well, after I spent a long time crying ;) She is an amazing woman...she shined a positive, twinkling light on what started out as a very dark and terrifying place.
-And last but certainly not least...an EARnormous SHOUT OUT to all of the hard and alt. rock bands living in my ipod…they screamed for me AND with me, and helped bang my head back in to sanity by drowning out all of the scary thoughts.
