Never know where you will meet a bc survivor

ladyg

You just never know where you will meet a bc survivor. I was out shopping yesterday at a little boutique called AT THE BEACH. My daughter had gotten me a gift certificate for Mother's Day so that when I was able to go back to water aerobics I could get a new swimsuit.
While I was trying some on the sales lady noticed that I was wearing a compression sleeve -I was lucky enough to get lymphedema. She asked if that was what the sleeve was for. When I said yes she asked if bc was the cause. Again I said yes. Then she told me that she was a 6 year survivor. She also said that she knew someone else with lymphedema and that swimming helped her.
I guess there are a lot more of us out there than we realize.

Hugs to all

faith_trust_and_a_little_bit_of_chemotherapy

Absolutely indeed...
I was blessed to meet two when I was first diagnosed...then another showed up on my radar whilst shopping for scarves to use as head wraps. I have been encouraged by seemingly total strangers in bookstores, the market, and even at work.

I can't help but imagine that the warm smile and eyes that meet mine as I walk through a mall belong to either an empathetic survivor or caregiver that knows my journey.

In all the hustle and bustle and self-absorbtion that sometimes accompanies this road, thank you for reminding me that others have traversed it and moved on to encourage us.

KayNYC

eyes on the compression sleeve
My PT is going well with a significant difference in the arm, underarm and trunk edema since beginning the drainage-massage the phyiscal therapist taught me.
I got my compression sleeve with gauntlet last Tuesday. What I didn't expect was the reactions to the sleeve by others on the subway. Here in NYC, almost anything goes on the subways and most people don't bat an eye at anything "odd" or different. Eye contact is usually a no-no on the subway but with "the sleeve" I have gotten some smiles and nods (other survivors/caretakers?) and some "odd and puzzled" looks.I chalk it up to being a middled aged fashion trend setter (:)). So when I start to see the subway fill up with people in designer sleeves on one arm, I'll know I have started a new fashion craze. Giving thought to getting one of those patterned sleeves from lymphdivas just to keep up my rep (LOL).
Hugs. K

Pinkpower

It is amazing to meet a
It is amazing to meet a total stranger whos life has been touched by BC. I met a woman at one of the Disney parks in Orlando Florida (A vacation gift granted to me and my family by Memories of Love) I was in the middle of my chemo treatments so I was very weak, so we rented a wheelchair. Anyways she saw me and came up to me while I was sitting and eating ice cream with my daughters and asked what illness was I fighting, I told her BC. She told me how recently her daughter lost the fight against BC. She gave me a huge hug and told me how beautiful I was and my daughters and to stay strong and never give up. That night, I cried and prayed for that wonderful woman and her lost.
Lupe

Ladymom

Never know where you will meet a bc survivor
One of the nurses in the recovery room after my lumpectomy said that she'd had one too. There are two women on my street that are survivors and they have been so helpful in knowing what to expect. One of them gave me a heart-shaped pillow for under my arm (it's just the right size and shape). She said to pass it on when I was finished with it--that there would be someone else who would surely need it. One of my co-workers is a ten-year survivor. That gives me lots of hope, that maybe I'll be around in ten years.

faith_trust_and_a_little_bit_of_chemotherapy

Ladymom said:

Never know where you will meet a bc survivor
One of the nurses in the recovery room after my lumpectomy said that she'd had one too. There are two women on my street that are survivors and they have been so helpful in knowing what to expect. One of them gave me a heart-shaped pillow for under my arm (it's just the right size and shape). She said to pass it on when I was finished with it--that there would be someone else who would surely need it. One of my co-workers is a ten-year survivor. That gives me lots of hope, that maybe I'll be around in ten years.

Unlike Blanche DuBois
I've never depended upon the kindness of strangers, but today whilst shopping I ran into one of those sisters that revealed herself shortly after my diagnosis. She's been carrying a book to share with me in her car "Turning Heads: Portraits of Grace, Inspiration, and Possibilities" It is a stunning volume of women, hairless due to their chemo...

Publishers Week to describes it...

"the book features women of all shapes, sizes, colors and nationalities, and their subjects' distinctive talents, interests, identities and personalities. In these bold and imaginative photos, a Florida Supreme Court Justice presides over a court session, a designer lounges astride an elephant in fuchsia formal wear, a doctor's face grins from the center of a rising moon. Short statements accompanying the photographs are equally eloquent. Model/writer Sharon Fryda Blynn describes overhearing three young men making fun of her during a commuter train ride. As they exit, one of them says, "God forgive me if this woman has cancer." She tells him and witnesses his shame. "I was thinking," she writes, "just for that brief second, I pushed a button... so that... the next time they see a bald woman, they might... smile and say, 'You look beautiful today,' and make her feel better."

Warmth and encouragement from a survivor 'sister'.

I hope many of you get the chance to peruse this volume either at your library or a bookstore.