On 3/16/23 I went in for a routine mammogram as my husband left for an out of town work trip. Things didn’t go as planned. They saw something suspicious and asked me to head down the hall for an ultra sound. Then we headed next to biopsy the area of concern. My son was getting married in less than two months. All my kids were out of town that day at the bachelorette and bachelor weekend events. I came home trying to wrap my head around what was happening. I own a small business and typically work 5-6 days a week. We had a wedding coming up. As I drove the next day to open my store my doctor called with the news. I sat in the parking lot hearing those dreaded words, you have cancer. As I headed into my Christian Bookstore and tried to wrap my head around this news, I think ever customer I helped was getting a gift for someone with or who had died from cancer. My journey has been a whirlwind of fast learning, deciding, making fast big decisions and finding the team of surgeons and oncologists I will trust. I had a lumpectomy a month before the wedding. I had my port surgery the week of the wedding. I started chemo the week after the wedding. I am grateful for my faith, the books in my store that give hope, the people that help surround me with love, those who I don’t know that have helped me carry this load, the list of gratitude is too much to write. After a reaction to my first AC chemo that landed me 4 days in the hospital I realised a whole longer list of so much I have taken for granted. I wake daily thanking God for my life, my breath, this day. I will take this journey I don’t want moment by moment with the strength of the Lord. I will praise Him because I know He is with me leading and guiding and protecting me. My motto: This too shall pass!
Cindy Bell