The summer before our oldest child started middle school, I was presented with an unexpected opportunity. Upon learning he would be taking a week-long business trip to San Antonio, Texas, my husband asked if I’d like to join him at the end of it for a fun getaway. Based on the short time span between our conversation and the trip as well as the fact that we were in the midst of a major transition, my husband didn’t expect me to take him up on this offer.
After 10 wonderful years of being a stay-at-home mom, I had accepted a job that year at my children’s school and was eagerly anticipating the start of summer vacation along with the chance to catch up on household responsibilities and appointments I had been putting off, including my mammogram that was actually a couple of years overdue. Not to mention planning and packing for our family vacation as well another personal travel obligation, both scheduled to take place within the few weeks leading up to the business trip.
All that said and being the planner that I am, I would have normally balked at the thought of trying to pull off yet another trip in such a short period of time. But something told me to throw caution to the wind and say “yes” to the opportunity.
In the weeks following that conversation, we successfully made it through the end of the school year, enjoyed our family vacation, and I even managed to squeeze in a few of the overdue appointments, including the mammogram that took place in early July prior to the San Antonio trip.
My delay in scheduling this appointment was mainly due to the amount of time I would need to carve out for the procedure. You see, years earlier I had discovered a lump in my left breast. After several stressful appointments and procedures, including a biopsy, I was relieved to learn the lump was simply a benign cyst. However, I also learned that because I have dense breast tissue, future mammograms would be more involved than a simple screening, resulting in the need to spend half the day at the radiology center.
While diligent in maintaining my mammogram schedule immediately following that health scare, I was lulled into a false sense of security once the cyst finally went away and subsequent mammogram results showed nothing of consequence. Eventually, life just got in the way and it became more and more challenging to carve out the time necessary for the annual procedure. As a result, what was once a priority fell to the bottom of the to-do list.
In January of the year I returned to work, I discovered a lump in my right breast. In light of my previous experience with the cyst, I didn’t put too much stock in my discovery and decided to hold off on getting it checked out until I had a break in my work schedule. So at long last on that summer day in early July, I prepared myself for the half-day adventure to the radiology center.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the radiologist’s recommendation that, due to the size of the lump, I schedule a follow-up biopsy. Again, based on my previous experience, I decided there was nothing to worry about. Just a precaution, I told myself. My bigger worry was how I was going to manage to squeeze the biopsy in before my trip to San Antonio.
Fortunately, plans fell into place and the biopsy occurred the day before my scheduled departure. The morning following the procedure, I dropped the kids off with their grandparents and high-tailed it to the airport to catch up with my husband for our much-anticipated getaway.
During a prior getaway with my husband before we had children, I made the mistake of checking the messages on our home phone line while we were away and had subsequently received word of questionable results following a medical test I had undergone shortly before we left for vacation. This news led to much stress and concern for the duration of trip, stress and concern that turned out to be all for naught when a follow-up test indicated all was clear. For this reason, although the radiologist informed me the biopsy results would be available within a few days of the procedure, I opted not to check for any messages this time while I was away. It wasn’t that I was worried about the results, I just didn’t want to deal with a potential repeat of my prior experience.
Upon returning from our adventure late that Saturday following the biopsy, my husband finally checked our phone messages. One particular message stopped us in our tracks. The one from my doctor informing me to call her as soon as I got the message. I finally realized it was time to worry.
What ensued was another unexpected opportunity, my breast cancer journey. A two-year odyssey involving six rounds of chemotherapy, six and a half weeks of radiation treatments, a year of intravenous drug therapy, cancer recurrence, seven surgeries including two lumpectomies and a mastectomy, and a ride on a high speed emotional roller coaster with many unanticipated and harrowing twists and turns.
While our trip to San Antonio was a welcomed opportunity for my husband and me to reconnect, spend some one-on-one time together, and in hindsight enjoy a respite in the calm before the storm, it was not without challenges, including having to arrange childcare and preparing our kids for their own mini-vacation, figuring out how to squeeze in a biopsy prior to my departure and getting stuck in a traffic jam on my way from the airport to the hotel that severely delayed my reunion with my husband.
On the other hand, while my battle with breast cancer involved more than its fair share of challenges, including fear of the unknown, concerns regarding treatment and the resulting side effects as well as the frustration of cancer recurrence, it offered many opportunities as well. The humbling chance to experience an overwhelming outpouring of love and support throughout the ordeal as well as the amazing peace of God which transcends all understanding. The pleasure of looking for silver linings amidst the storm clouds. The gift of valuable life lessons learned throughout the journey.
Through these experiences, I have come to discover that while some unexpected circumstances in life are welcomed and others are not, they can all be opportunities nonetheless. The choice is ours as to whether or not to accept them as such.
