Hello my dearest friends,
I hope you are all doing well! I know we haven’t spoken in a
while (my fault!) but hopefully you can forgive me. I’m writing to let
you know that for my 37th birthday this year I got…breast
cancer!! (It’s not a joke, but I am trying to find the
funny). I am fine, I am going to be fine, but I wanted to let you
know. I’m so sorry that I cannot bear to call and tell you. I hope
you’ll forgive me. It doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It means I
love you very much and I want to spare you weepy and maudlin phone conversations.
See how much I love you?!
At the suggestion of a few people who have listened to me torment
over how or whether to share this news, I have decided to tell the story here: http://sothenthishappened.blogspot.com/ It’s perfect for people
procrastinating at work, but feel free to follow the soap-opera at your leisure or just check
back in a few months when it will (fingers-crossed!) all be over. I will
cut to the chase and tell you that I have two lumps in my left breast, the
cancer has not spread, and I have to have a mastectomy on the left side (and
the right could go as well). I am, of course, trying to make the lumps go
away through sheer will power and garlicky green juices by April 19th
when I am scheduled for surgery.
Yes, I did tell my nosey family members because they are so damn
nosey, calling me every day, wanting to know how I am and what the doctors said
and what the tests said. How is a girl to get any quality time with
Avoidance and Denial with all these interruptions?!
Thank you for letting me tell you in this way. And you actually shouldn’t send me anything
- that was a lame joke, too. Your gift to me is just being my
friend. I love you very much!
Lauren
