Health and Fitness : Laugh With Kathy - Finding humor in the journey through breast cancer

In recognition of October being Breast Cancer Awareness month, Dean and Val have asked me to share some stories from my book Laugh With Kathy, Finding humor in the journey through breast cancer. Each week day during October, I will post an excerpt from my book on Vinton Today. Our hope it that these articles will give you a glimpse into what it takes to beat breast cancer. Proceeds from books sold in October on Amazon and from my website will benefit the Survivors of Benton County. Please note that I was diagnosed with breast cancer four years ago, had two years of treatment and I am now living cancer free. Book Preface: There is nothing funny about being diagnosed with cancer. Thanks to improvements in treatments and research, more and more people are surviving cancer. But for me, simply surviving was not enough. I didn't want to just survive cancer; I wanted to crush it. Since I couldn't do that, the next best thing was to laugh at it. After all, what could be more demoralizing to an enemy than to laugh at them? My book is intended to be a lighthearted, quirky look at surviving breast cancer. I originally wrote Laugh with Kathy as a blog while I was going through the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. I used the blog to sort out and share my experiences with my friends and family. Over time, more and more people started following the blog and asking me to convert it into book format so that they could share it with others. But it wasn't until I started getting e-mails from other breast cancer patients telling me I had made their day that I considered publishing a book. Most of the writing in my book comes directly from the blog, with only minor clarifications or grammatical corrections. I have added some new posts that were never published on the blog. Some of the new posts are retrospective in nature, while others I wrote during treatment and never published because I wasn't ready to share them at the time. Discovery: Wednesday, September 5, 2012: They say life is a journey. I don't know who "they"� are, but I know it is true because I see that phrase so often on coasters, note cards, and signs. My journey started when I found a lump in my breast while I was showering. It scared the bejeebies out of me. I felt the lump, thought, "What is that?"� and then felt it again. Everything stopped"�time, my breathing, my brain. "Is this something to worry about? Was this there before, and I just didn't feel it? Is this real, or am I overreacting? Is it still there?"� I asked myself. I felt again. Yes, it was still there. Drat!When was my last mammogram? Here is where I tell you that I have a secret weapon: my husband is a general surgeon and has been treating breast cancer for more than twenty years. Over the years, I have noted the changes in my breast texture and location. I have asked him on many occasions to check out a thickening or new texture. All have been normal. When I say that I don't like it, he generally teases me with "Wait till you see what happens next."� What? So I determined long ago that I would be a fool not to take advantage of this great resource and have him do my breast exams for me. When Gene came home that evening, I asked him to check out the lump I had found. He examined me and asked when my next mammogram was due. I told him I was two months past due, so he suggested I call and schedule one. He told me not to get too excited. But he didn't say, "That's nothing,"� like he had in the past.