Duffy! Is a Vibrant Nation General User subscribe to this blog
First, Duffy is my real first name. Very unusual, I know - but it fits my zany personality.
My husband is 67, I'm 58, and we've been married for 29 years. (My profile picture is from June of this year. I'd like to thank my Mom for her anti-wrinkle genes, and L'Oreal for their hair dye.) I'm a Step-Mom to three great (now) adults who are 46, 42 and 40. Unfortunately 2 of them live in Florida and we're in Illinois. No grandbabies, although they sure tried. And now they're all divorced anyway, so there you go.
On a not-so-great note, I'm a 3-time breast cancer survivor (2002, 2007 and 2009). With my 3rd diagnosis last spring and being told I have "maybe" 5 to 10 years, I finally realized for the sake of my sanity I could no longer allow cancer to be the focus of my daily life. So I walked away from my online breast cancer support group and instead switched to laughing nonstop with friends as much as I can. I infinitely prefer laughter to drama, so here's to laughing my way through life as much as is humanly possible.
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It's only necessary to read the next part if I should upset anyone in the future when I talk about my personal views on my personal cancer. Otherwise, I'd rather just keep everything happy and silly.
A P.S. to my bio: I'm a cancer survivor, not a cancer warrior. In other words, I refused to ever do chemo and lower the quality of my life one iota by all but destroying my already faulty immune system in order to possibly buy some dubious quantity of life. This made my oncologist a wee bit crazy - fortunately he's sweet, respectful and (reluctantly) accepting.
In 2009 I finally asked for onco-type testing to be done, which proved what I'd always known instinctively: Chemo would make no difference against my specific cancer. On a funny note, I've now had 2 single mastectomies (2002 and 2007) and the equivalent of a double mastectomy in 2009 in order to get rid of the new area of cancer, plus have my implants removed. I mean really, does having had the equivalent of three mastectomies make me weirdly special or WHAT?
Miscellaneous views: I intensely dislike "Pink Ribbon October" because I intensely dislike Corporate America giving a relatively small amount of money to cancer research in order to make a huge amount of money off my breast cancer. I also dislike fundraisers such as "cancer walks" that cause one to feel guilty for not giving donations to a person who's pledged a sum of money too high for them to give themselves. I choose instead to give my money locally through Illinois Wings, which allows women without insurance right here in my immediate area to have all necessary surgery and treatment through participating facilities and surgeons for no charge.
When it comes to my cancer, I walk my own path quietly and stubbornly, politely asking that anyone who disagrees with me respectfully keep their views to themselves, just as I would automatically do for them. It would never occur to me to argue that anyone must believe the same way I do, because no-one's beliefs are superior - or right - or wrong. They're all simply individual and should be respected as such.
