THE BIG DAY
My wedding day was like a dream come true. My one little wrinkle was the wig, which I asked my best friend to transport to the wedding after a wash and blow dry (it is nice that you can get your wig washed without even being there!). The wig fell over in the shopping bag (yes, I was too cheap to invest in a wig box) and one side was completely mashed after falling over and staying that way for a couple of hours in a hot trunk. I guess Rick heard the utter fear in my voicemail message, and he left me a return voice mail saying "DO NOT FREAK OUT. I DO HAIR TOO. EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE."
Everything was more than fine. It was perfect. I felt, and looked more beautiful than I had in years (forget about months) and had the time of my life at my wedding. I danced the day away with my Ed, who kept saying "Shouldn’t you sit down and rest now?" What I didn’t realize until the wedding was over (and chemo wasn’t), was just how wonderful it was to have this happy, fun, life event to focus on and what a catalyst it was to plow through the first half, and clearly the most physically challenging part of my treatment. And did I tell you where I "registered" for wedding gifts? With every breast cancer fundraising organization there is. A day didn’t go by during treatment where I didn’t think about women with lost wages or jobs, no health care, no wigs, no help with raising young children or taking care of aging parents. How lucky was I?
I think all relationships are tested at some point; ours was tested early and passed with flying colors! My husband’s devotion to my well being, health, and care continue to amaze me every day. He is my rock, and my kids were fantastic and supportive too. They really tried to behave when I was at my worst; and I in turn tried to be there for all the school events, performances, and graduations. The message to them was clear; you can overcome obstacles and challenges by being resilient. I would try as hard as possible to maintain the household routine, and even seeing me fail on occasion was an important lesson for them too. Getting out of walking the dog was one of the best side benefits of chemo!
Everything was more than fine. It was perfect. I felt, and looked more beautiful than I had in years (forget about months) and had the time of my life at my wedding. I danced the day away with my Ed, who kept saying "Shouldn’t you sit down and rest now?" What I didn’t realize until the wedding was over (and chemo wasn’t), was just how wonderful it was to have this happy, fun, life event to focus on and what a catalyst it was to plow through the first half, and clearly the most physically challenging part of my treatment. And did I tell you where I "registered" for wedding gifts? With every breast cancer fundraising organization there is. A day didn’t go by during treatment where I didn’t think about women with lost wages or jobs, no health care, no wigs, no help with raising young children or taking care of aging parents. How lucky was I?
I think all relationships are tested at some point; ours was tested early and passed with flying colors! My husband’s devotion to my well being, health, and care continue to amaze me every day. He is my rock, and my kids were fantastic and supportive too. They really tried to behave when I was at my worst; and I in turn tried to be there for all the school events, performances, and graduations. The message to them was clear; you can overcome obstacles and challenges by being resilient. I would try as hard as possible to maintain the household routine, and even seeing me fail on occasion was an important lesson for them too. Getting out of walking the dog was one of the best side benefits of chemo!
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