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About Me

Me, Misty, and my mom, Nola

My Mom's Cancer Story

 

My cancer story, by Nola Solt:

 

In 2001 I was diagnosed with breast cancer in my left breast. My regular mammogram did not find it; I found it by looking in the mirror. The left breast nipple was very different than the right.

I had a lumpectomy, then chemo. I was just getting ready to start radiation when a mammogram found a lump in the right breast also. It was cancer as well. I had another lumpectomy and went on to receive radiation treatments in both breasts.

Many friends gave me “self-help” books to read.  The books all began with, “I know you are mad, scared and so on"... Well I was none of those things. I just wanted someone to tell me what to DO not how to feel. I wanted a book on how to survive and still enjoy my life whether it was a long life or a short one.

 

I could not find my magic “how to” book so I just started my journey of survival and tried to enjoy the trip.

 I was an Adult Basic Education teacher for a community college at the time. My first step was to educate myself and my students in how to talk to cancer victims and act around them. If you are a survivor you know what I mean; you just want to be treated normal!  No one wants to receive that pity look or hear that pity sound in others voices.  I was guilty of both the look and the voice up to that point when talking to cancer patients. I developed some coping strategies.

I taught every day through chemo. It gave me something to think about besides myself.  My students and I learned that you can throw-up and still teach; you can also lose your hair and still feel pretty. My students did that for me.

I learned that with my deep faith and help from the Lord I was much stronger that I thought I was. The life I had always loved was an even better life than before because it became more precious to me. I was going to win this battle.  It is one of the greatest battles you will ever face.  At this point in my life I had lost a baby girl shortly after birth, and that was hard in another way. That was a deep, deep wrenching pain that never goes away. But cancer is a disease that had invaded my body.  I had not made poor choices in my life to invite it in; I lived a very healthy lifestyle. At one point I said, “I wished I smoked because I would give it up and have a better chance of making it.”

I never said (or thought) ”why me?” It was ME and I was going on, and go on I did for the next  twelve years. I lived that life I loved. My hair grew back. My scars somewhat healed. My husband passed away. I remarried. Life was good.  

Then in 2014 I had my routine mammogram and my left breast had cancer. I would have a double mastectomy and maybe chemo again…they can only perform radiation one time.

One thing about cancer coming back is that you can never be told you have cancer for the first time again.  I had fought the battle once and I knew how... I was experienced and ready to do battle again.  Many people commented on how well I was taking the news. They could not see my inner struggles. But regardless of how I was taking the news, taking it BADLY does not change anything. Some people said, “Don’t you wish you would have had a mastectomy the first time?” Thoughts like that are a total waste of time and energy and I need both to fight the battle I am in now. I still have a deep, loving faith in the Lord... I still love life... I have buried two husbands, and married again. Life is still good!

As it has turns out, I do not need chemo this time, just the blocker pill for life.  

I wish I could say I feel courageous or something profound, but all I can say is that I am so full of gratitude for each new day. Gratitude lifts the spirit. As we go through this life together, may we all do things that lift us up, not drag us down.

 

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