On Our Terms
Their voices were indistinct, and my vision collapsed into a tunnel of fuzziness. I became aware only of the heat and overbearing suffocation in the room, and my skin prickled with a noose.
My mom was listening, seated alongside me, the MRI is suspicious for cancer. The only way we will know is by getting a biopsy of the tumor with surgery
resist
mm.
Her words became lost between gulps of air, while my brain fogged up,
my logic failed to formulate the thoughts of where we would go from here. As a family caregiver and daughter of a breast cancer survivor, I know all too well this chaos, despair and fear of the unknown with a cancer diagnosis,
resist
that moment with my mom resurfaces flashing before me in my young patient now,
when I delivered her news, I breathed in The paws and drowned in the pool of her wet eyes,
the words in aggressive breast cancer landed like lead weights, shattering the deafening silence and punctuating the coolness of her solitude
resist. Hmm. Similarly, from my mom, the presence of supportive family and friends dulled the shock of a cancer diagnosis,
and now with my patient, she reawakened my fierce resistance against suffering this diagnosis alone
over the course of several appointments, our treatment plan relied on this support with information for decision making, I celebrated my patients growing awareness of her own strengths and deepening relationships with her own mother and aunt,
Creating this safe space defined health on her terms,
sharing her desperation and fears,
dreams for the future and control over the health of her unborn.
As a nurse practitioner, I hope to protect these inalienable patients rights by navigating initial diagnosis, treatment and survivorship in the cancer journey
reclaim.
What if genetic tests for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers were available for all?
How can early detection reclaim our future so that health was not forever lost to cancer
reclamation on our terms. To my cancer heroes, both my family And patients together in community. Survival,