by accident ...on purpose ..

In less than 48 hours, I will be starting on the easiest part of my journey.. it is the downhill part of the cycle ride, the part where you relax back and stop gripping the handlebars of the bike and let gravity pull you along the stretch of road...after the surgery.. many of you may think that is going to be the hardest part.. I beg to differ..

It took me seconds to make the decision to have a double mastectomy....and I have been sent confirmations that the decision was the right one on a consistent basis.... affirmations if you will.. by accident... on purpose... little messages that have slowly and surely given me the courage to fight the fear.. remember what Yoga Mark said.. no one is fearless.. it is all about the courage.. for me that courage grows and I am amazed that god has given me the signs to tell me that I am going to make it.... that I am in the fight and I will win..

Tina's Treasures is affiliated with Virginia Piper Cancer Center.. it is a little shop brought about by a breast cancer survivor that could not find the items she needed after surgery.. so she made it her mission to make sure no one else felt that helplessness.. The employees in that store are almost all breast cancer survivors.. they know exactly what your insurance must cover according to the Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998 in order for the transition from surgery to finished product (no matter what you decide that is to be) to be the easiest it can be..

....my appointment was with a specific sales person.... but I ended up with Jodi ...by accident...on purpose.. as we chatted it was revealed that Jodi had been a patient of "never give up" Leighton ... my plastic surgeon...12 years ago... she had chosen a double mastectomy and he had completed the reconstruction.. by accident and on purpose.. she only confirmed my decision was the right one.. she had fitted women..one after another after having a single mastectomy or a lumpectomy.. only to have them come back because it was not enough.. and each time a woman came back...she was sure that her decision had saved her life..

by accident and on purpose.. my hairdresser was finishing up with a woman when I arrived to have my hair cut this weekend..... and while we both were sitting and talking with the gal that cuts my hair.. it was discovered .. by accident ...on purpose.. that she was a breast cancer survivor.. her sister as well.. she had one breast removed only to have to go back 3 years later and do it again.. if she had to do it again.. she would have done both at the same time.. by accident...on purpose..

I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.
Some come from ahead and some come from behind.
But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see.
Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!~Dr. Seuss

See you at the bottom of the hill...