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When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in January 2007, it never occurred to me that I had just been handed a death sentence. I was too busy wondering at the coincidence of it all. Out of the blue I decided to get a mammogram, and with no symptoms at all, was diagnosed? What if I had kept on living my life as always, without even an inkling of getting looked at? It had been over ten years, and very well could have gone into eleven. I considered the coincidence of going for a mammogram and being diagnosed, as the hand of God. My guardian angel looking out for me once again: Whatever one wants to call it.

Oddly enough, I never DID go through shock and denial. It was [and still is] just one more trial and tribulation God is testing me with. He gave me Epilepsy; Chronic Bronchitis; Asthma; Pneumonia [twice]; 2 broken ankles, one on both sides, a Deep Vein Thrombosis [blood clot in a vein in my upper chest], and a stroke. So being told I had cancer did not surprise me at all

What bothered me was the way the doctors talked in lowered voices to my husband about my condition, and not me. That really got under my skin. It's not like I'm a child, have a weak personality or anything; whatever was going on with me, I deserved to know about it. Heck, they wouldn't even tell me what stage I was in, OR what a "stage" even was!

They refused to call the tumor they removed a tumor, it was a "mass" instead. They wouldn't tell me its size except in centimeters, which I still don't understand. And they flung around the word "metastasized" left and right. I had no idea what that meant either.

When I got home, I felt forced to look it up online. Metastasized meant it had spread to other places in my body: I then went to a cancer site online to see what stage "metastasized" fell in to. Stage Four. The LAST stage a person could be in. So I went from a chance mammogram to Stage 4, all in one day, and no one even bothered to tell me. It's a good thing I was smart enough to figure it out. [I STILL don't know what 3cm x 7cm equals in inches though.]

But at the same time, [another coincidence?] I live in a town with a hospital renowned world wide for its cancer treatments, and specialty clinics every few feet. IMy hometown is even known as "The City of Medicine".

Some people say I am a pillar of strength, but I just don't see it. I have put my faith in God, and therefore know I can handle whatever comes my way. My first chemotherapy treatment was horrible, with every side effect recorded, and

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