What Breast Cancer CAN'T Do - From cancer patient to Ironman.

Dec 25, 2010 Christmas.  I am on a plane from DFW to MKE.  It’s late and I’m tired.  I’ve been in Santa Fe with Mom and Dad for a week.  I skied once, went riding with the wonderful folks at Broken Saddle once and generally had a lovely visit with my family.  My mom is 81 and suffers from lung cancer.  I find myself wondering if this will be the last time I see her.   I’m not really ok with that, although I recognize it is a distinct possibility.  There were lots of discussions around this issue, the whats and whens and hows.    I wish I were closer and I wish I could be there more often.  But, we all make choices.  Even our parents.   I met a woman while riding, who is a survivor, 5 yrs.  She wrote a book “Are Ya Kidding Me?”   I’m anxious to read it.  She was wonderfully open and warm and beautiful.  It was a pleasant, albeit unexpected, experience.  Skiing and horseback...

..........and why now.  I guess the short answer is......I'm ready.  First, the pertinents.  It's a long story.  Well, it feels like a long story.  In July of 1998, I felt a lump in my right breast.  Trying not to panic, I went to see my gyno who, at the time, was Dr. Paul Burstein.  He didn't seem overly concerned (a key point) and sent me to have a mammogram and to see a surgeon.  The surgeon for HIS family, Dr. Thomas Schneider.  The mammogram showed nothing.  Which is a little frustrating when you are sitting there FEELING a thing, but it's not visible.  When I saw Dr. S., he too was not overly concerned.  Dr. S. did an ultrasound, which also showed nothing.......really?  But, he said he would remove it and end of story.  The whole thing was pretty much a non-event and as anticipated the tumor was benign.  Whoopee, right?  Not so fast.  As the incision was healing, I started poking around....