Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Women of Hope

I joined a group meeting in the hopes of meeting others like myself - for many reasons. One, I might not feel so alone in this journey (although I would NEVER wish this on anyone else), two, we may be able to help lift each others spirits when we are down (and I have had my share of those days), and three, to continue to break out of my little box as I promised myself I would.

Who knew I would meet another Triple Negative. She's Stage 4 and guess what - she has been since 2007. THAT is a true miracle walking. Any other TNBCs out there reading need to go back and read that sentence again - She is still walking among us...Wow and amen. Let me tell you just a few things she shared with me - who knows, her journey thus far may help you:

1. They put her on Femara even though triple negatives rarely respond (she did)
2. She takes Zometa every month - it helps her bones release marrow - and her hip has regrown by itself.
3. She has had 42, yes, I said 42 chemotherapy treatment and has hair and a sense of humor.

I also met another wonderful new member, Karen. She too is a BC survivor and recently lost her husband. I could see the pain in her eyes yet there she was trying to get through the day. Her children are struggling. I hope you will keep her kids in your thoughts and prayers for surely as much as we go through, the kids take it quite hard.

I leave you with this for today. Fear is in my mind but the Spirit is in my heart. Did you know that "Fear Not" is in the bible 360 times?? That is almost one time for every single day of the year....interesting, huh...and in my dark hours when I am afraid, I try to remember these things and be comforted in knowing and remembering that I am exactly where God wants me to be. And so are YOU~~ :)

Have an awesome week~~ Hugs.

4 comments:

  1. Arla, Good for you for joining that group. I want to find a support group for post-treatment survivors. I think I will need support at that time more than during treatment. How did you find your group?

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  2. Very inspirational. We all need to be reminded once in a while that we are where we are supposed to be. Thank you.

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  3. Happened upon your blog and glad I did. Looking forward to following and reading more about your fight.
    Diane from survivordiane.com

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  4. Diane - Welcome~ I shall visit you soon! :)
    Nancy - I got lucky in that I work with someone who's family member unfortunately is a BC patient and we do things together, so I found it through them. BUT - call the nearest American Cancer Society or better yet, go down and introduce yourself. They usually know the who's and what's other patient(s) that has a group or a church that are reaching out to others. My group falls under the Calvary Church. I have felt quite alone at times in this journey and somehow this small group is helping me more than I imagined. I hope you find a group - I didn't think it would make much of a difference, but it does. Please make the call!!

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