On this day, March 5th, 2 years ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Alyssa asked this morning, “But you had the cancer before that day.” And, yes, I guess I did, but this is the day that marks my knowledge of the disease. And this is the day where our fight began. I am beyond thrilled to say that I am a 2 year survivor today.

Throughout the last year, I have come to realize how blessed I was to be able to fight this disease. How blessed I am to be healthy. As I walked through the shock and my treatments in 2010, I was not really aware at the seriousness of my disease. I was told that I would have a very high survival rate with treatment, so of course I did the treatments recommended. 8 rounds of chemotherapy and 30 days of radiation. I finished, there was no cancer detected in my body, I moved on. It wasn’t until I began to visit doctors here in Austin that I looked head on into the fact that my fight is not over. Two oncologists that I met, suggested yearly CT scans and after reviewing my stats, removal of my ovaries. I was shocked. I thought I was good? They would both explain to me that my young age, the size/type of tumor and that lymph nodes were positive made me high risk. My current oncologist said if I were his wife he would do everything he could to keep the cancer from coming back – hysterectomy, 6mo – 12 mo CT scans, etc. I left the office with just “whoah!” How did I make it this far being so naive about my disease?

Was it naive or faith? Maybe I was just dealing with all I could then and now I can begin to make the best decisions to move forward. I remember a statistic that my TN oncologist gave me based on my exact cancer. He said that in 10 years, I have a 50% chance of being cancer free. For some reason that speaks louder to me today than it did 2 years ago. I am more prepared today to face this head on. I will continue with yearly CT scans. I had my first in February and after too many days of waiting they finally found my results and confirmed everything was clear. I will also be removing my ovaries. Well, not me. My cancer was estrogen/progestrone receptor positive. Which simply means that it fed on those hormones. The fact that my body is still making them is a risk that we don’t want to take. And, I will be able to take a more effective drug if I am post-menopause. But with that comes risks. Removing those hormones from my body at my age puts me at risk for bone loss and heart disease. Did you know that estrogen protects your heart in women under 45? I think Ethan’s words were something like, “Let’s just get you to 10 years. Then we can worry about your heart.” I love that man. And pray with every bone in my body that we grow old together.

The short of this is, “Hallelujah Praise God, he has healed me.” But with trusting and giving him praise there is a part in it for us. Decisions that we can make to keep this cancer away. And in the last few months, we have made those decisions and will move forward fighting and still trusting. Seriously, what else is there without trust in God?