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Personal Narrative Essay

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Ten years ago I was celebrating my 49th birthday and on the verge of a life changing decade. After months of mammograms, tests, and biopsies, I heard the dreaded three words "you have cancer". You know that cliché movie scene where the character is sucked to the ceiling and watches the doctor from above and all she hears is a muted "blah, blah, blah"? That was my reality. I lived in what felt like a dream state for several years after hearing those words. One cannot be and will not ever be the same after a cancer diagnosis, in particular after your two favorite body parts are cut from your body. Fast forward to today, my 59th birthday and after many surgeries and procedures, I am living my "new normal". After my deconstruction and reconstruction, many …show more content…

I no longer enjoy frivolous shopping. Instead of acquiring or giving material goods, I'd rather experience all that the world has to give and share these with my loved ones. With the exception of my fake Frankenstein boobs and tooth implant (I also lost a front tooth a few months after my reconstruction), I've gained so much more by keeping it real. My most profound losses were the losses of fear, anxiety, procrastination and superstitious behaviors. These losses freed me to live my life purely in the moment. Live in the here and now and not worry about the past or what the future may or may not hold. I'm no longer locked into rituals like knocking on wood or signs of crosses for fear that I lose control of the universe.. Don't get me wrong, it hasn't been easy and anxieties and fears occasionally creep back in, but I am only but a speck in this world and the only thing that I have control of is the way I choose to live my life. The past ten years have been full of gains. I've gained the knowledge that I am strong. I am loved (most of the time). I have enough and I am enough. I've gained my Daisy and a new

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