Not all my blogs are about quilts, quilters, and quilting. This is one of those blogs. And if you’re squeamish about the technical terms of anatomy, you may want to skip this week and wait until next Thursday’s blog.
There are no pretty pictures of anything in this blog. Except Sam.
There is however, a hefty amount of raw emotion and truth-bomb facts.
I am a mother. I have two absolutely wonderful, intelligent children. I have been blessed with one of each. A son, Jonathan Matthew, and a daughter, Meagan Elizabeth. This blog is about my daughter.
My daughter is in her early thirties. She has educated herself well, going back to college to earn an additional degree while having two toddlers under foot. She is due to start grad school soon in logistics. She has two adorable daughters that I frequently write about. She’s married to a great guy. On top of all that, she’s my next-door neighbor.
Last week she was diagnosed with stage 1 cervical cancer.
Of all the words that, as a parent, you expect to come out of your child’s mouth, I can bet my bottom dollar that “I have cancer,” is not three of them.
The diagnosis came after 15 years of normal pap smears. The “ironic” thing (if you believe in such, I prefer to think it’s Divine Intervention), is that this pelvic exam came about with Meg’s appointment with her PCP to get a refill on a medication. She wasn’t due for an OB/GYN appointment for a few months. It was this appointment that caught that growth on her cervix. It’s about 2 cm. It is contained.
We are prayerfully hopeful. She has to have an MRI performed tomorrow to double-check a few things, but overall, the prognosis is good.
I am thankful for physicals.
I am thankful for doctors that are careful and caring and cancer teams that are angels in scrubs.
I am thankful for friends that are in the field of oncology that have answered dozens of questions in real English that I can understand.
I am thankful for my quilting friends that have offered to cook meals, tend children, and do laundry.
I am thankful that we live in a part of the United States that has a cancer care unit that is in the top 25 in the nation.
I am thankful for a lot of things. Meg could have opted out of that pelvic exam and the tumor not be discovered for months.
So… March is National Women’s Month. We’ve done a lot. We garnered the right to vote in 1920. We’ve burned our bras, our dinners, and our candles at both ends. We’ve marched for equal rights, equal pay, and good child care and education. We will continue to march…
Right into your doctor’s office for physicals. Ladies, I know you hate them – I do, too – but they could save your life not only for yourself but your family and friends. As Meg so succulently put it on her twitter account – Save the boobs, but check your box.
Be like Nike – Just do it.
Love and Stitches,
Sherri and Sam (who is neutered and has nothing to check in this area…)
