Guest Post: Words From My Friend

The night of my diagnosis was a night I will never forget...for all the obvious reasons. It was the night I learned what it means to be figuratively sucker punched in the gut. Bucket loads of tears were shed. And I do mean bucket loads. But true to my nature, my mind quickly shifted into business mode and with the help of my friends I mapped out a plan (as much as one could) to counter attack the enemy and show the "c" demon he was messing with the wrong girl. I wrote about that night in great detail HERE. 

That was the night my Power Posse was born. 

Each member of my posse had a role. Each was vitally important. Each will never be forgotten. One of the charter members was my dear friend, Lydia. Today she shares what it was like for her to fight the fight along side me. 

Dear Lydia,

Thank you for the love, the support and the laughter! You are THE best!

With much love,

Lisa

P.S. I suppose I should also thank you for "Brad Pitt" although I hate to think it took chemo to win THAT one!!!

October is “pink”. October is breast cancer awareness month, but I don’t need a month or a color to remind me of breast cancer thank you very much! I am keenly, deeply, and intimately aware of breast cancer every time I look at my best friend’s beautiful face.

I confess that I did not want to write this blog post at all. Cancer is a hard thing for everyone who is touched by it. I am ashamed to say that I have been procrastinating, putting off the reliving of that gut wrenching, helpless feeling that comes when a person that you love is diagnosed with this disease. But if my dear friend, Lisa, can fight her way through chemo and baldness, then certainly I can muster the courage to face the dreaded “C” beast again through my words.

 When that August day started it seemed an ordinary day. Lisa was not feeling well. She had been sick with some sort of cold bug and there was a lump that I knew about. “Mastitis”, the doctor said. That made perfect sense to my logical mind. She had been sick and the lump seemed to come out of nowhere, so there was no way it was anything serious. Antibiotics and she would be good as new! Did I mention that I am a Pollyanna?

 And so it was that I happened to be at the gym by myself that day without my long standing workout partner. When I got back to my car there were three missed calls from Lisa. Lisa NEVER calls that many times in a row. I knew in my gut that something was terribly wrong. I don’t remember the words she said to me. Only the feeling afterwards as I sped across town to get to her. It seemed to me surreal, cruel, and unfair that my friend was going to have to fight for her life. I only knew in that moment that I was going to be right by her side helping her kick some butt, Thelma and Louise style. (Lisa is Thelma. I am Louise. I agreed, during a round of her chemo, to let her be Thelma since Thelma gets to sleep with Brad Pitt. Enough said!)

I hid a lot of my pain and worry from Lisa during her courageous fight. I remember being on my knees a lot…tears streaming down my face, begging GOD for the life of my friend, for her healing, and for the wisdom and knowledge to be what GOD needed me to be for Lisa in the battle. GOD is good and he guided Lisa’s posse in miraculous fashion. All of us who loved her, somehow loved each other through the fight as well. We functioned as a team. Never taking our eyes off the victory we believed would come.

Our faith was rewarded. Lisa is healthy and well. GOD is good!

Thelma and Louise Thanksgiving 2011...a few weeks after all treatment ended.

I will conclude with a thought about orchids. Orchids are my very favorite flower. They are so very beautiful and strong and graceful. They have intricate, delicate blooms that sway peacefully on strong stalks. They go through a dormant period when their blooms die back. To the untrained eye, they might seem lifeless or even unattractive at that stage, but in reality they are gathering their strength underneath the soil. If you watch them closely you can see the buds forming again and when they burst into their magnificent bloom they are even more beautiful, plentiful and breathtaking than the last time they flowered. Lisa you are an orchid… a beautiful pink strong orchid!

 I Love you Thelma!

Lydia (aka.. .Louise)