Last October, 12 days before our first
Disney cruise, I got the dreaded diagnosis of breast cancer myself. I've never been sick in my life and work as a nurse to boot. My doctors advised me to go on the cruise and enjoy it since I was going to be in for a long winter. I also couldn't imagine disappointing my kids who had been looking forward to it for so long (they're twins and we sailed on their 6th birthday). Needless to say I had a wonderful time, though it was definately mixed with fear and sadness.
I have spent the last 7 months undergoing surgery, chemotherapy and radiation and just finished up several weeks ago. I took classes in Meditation at my support center to help me relax and to learn how to think of the treatment in a positive light rather than a negative. When they taught me to focus on one thing that I found totally relaxing, I decided to picture myself on - where else - the top deck of the Disney Wonder relaxing in the healing sun (as well as Buzz Lightyear zapping the cancer cells out of my body)! In January I even went ahead and booked us on our second cruise for August as a celebration in ending treatment (my family also gave me a German Shepherd puppy - I lost my 12yr old Shepherd to a brain tumor the same day all my hair fell out, guess someone wanted to really pile it on
). Man, have I looked forward to this all year!!
It was nice to hear from my doctor that the cancer is gone from my body - truly reason to celebrate. I pray it never comes back but it's a fear you have to learn to live with. I've learned it's important to count your blessings every day (which I totally do), don't sweat the small stuff and to do the things you want to do with your life today, not wait for tomorrow. The people I've met on my journey have been incredible. It's changed my life.
I've been a little bummed that my hair is so short for the cruise but I have to remember it's nice to even have hair now and at least it's not gray or curly so far. And thank God for small favors, DH has finally stopped calling me Kojak, LOL !! We are going to truly enjoy every moment of our vacation! Some of us on this board have plans to meet for a drink so that will be extra special.
To the original poster: thank you for being there for your mother, I'm sure it means the world to her and she is counting her blessings. I wish her continued good health and will keep her in my prayers. I hope you have a great cruise too! To the others, thanks for sharing your stories, I found them helpful to read.
