10/21/2025
At Nature’s Cottage, we’ve always believed in healing — inside and out. But a few years ago, I learned what healing truly means when I faced my own battle. Friends have asked me to share that journey, and I want to open my heart with you today.
People often say, “Never look back” or “There’s a reason the windshield is bigger than the rearview mirror.” For me, looking back isn’t about regret—it’s a reminder of strength. It’s proof of survival, of overcoming, of the ability to face hard things and still move forward.
My Pink story began when I was 40 years old, with my very first mammogram. Up until then, aside from cervical cancer and endometriosis—which required a hysterectomy at 37—I had always received a clean bill of health.
Fast forward three years: what was supposed to be a routine mammogram turned into a breast cancer diagnosis. Thankfully, it was caught early, treated, and I returned to good health, though I now have mammograms and ultrasounds every six months.
Finally, the milestone I had been waiting for arrived—the year I could stop the six-month ultrasounds and return to annual mammograms. I was ready to “ring the bell.”
But instead of celebrating, I found myself back in the consultation room. I knew this room well—the two chairs with an end table between them, the tissues, the pamphlets on patient counseling and caregiver support. This time, the news was different. The cancer wasn’t in just one breast—it was in both.
I remember the doctor asking if I wanted to call someone before she went over the results. I remember making that call, and hearing the voice on the other end say, “You can do this. We’ll get through it. Do you need me to come now? You’re going to be ok.”
And so, once again, I faced the hard road ahead. Within six weeks, I was scheduled for surgery to remove the masses. But before that day, I had already made a decision: if anything was ever found again—six months, a year, or six years later—I would choose a double mastectomy.
Though it has only been a little over a year since that surgery, today I am once again blessed with a clean bill of health.
I don’t share my Pink story to scare anyone. Quite the opposite. I was a young woman, without the gene, who started mammograms right when guidelines recommended—and still, I faced breast cancer twice.
My story is a reminder: be vigilant about your health. Be your own advocate. Get your mammogram, especially if you have a family history.
I am continually inspired by the women who share their Pink stories, who carry scars of courage, and who live with such resilience. But my greatest hope is that one day, we won’t need Pink stories at all—because we will have found a way to end breast cancer altogether.
