Page 14 - Priorities #40 2008-March

How Tripping on a Rug Can
Save Your Life!
By Gail Kimball
Clumsy me, I tripped on a rug in my bedroom and fell. It saved my life. I discovered
a lump in my left breast in October of 2006 as I
had fallen on the exact place where the lump was located. After the fall I developed a bone bruise that lifted the lump so that I could feel it.
I had yearly mammograms and thought that would be enough to identify any breast cancer. After all, I breast-fed my children,
did not take hormone
replacement therapy and
watched what I ate. I didn’t
expect to find cancer so had
not performed the monthly
self-check.
The day after I located the lump—I call it lucky Friday the 13th—I made an appointment with a nurse practitioner. She was a wonderful earth-mother type and took good care of me. She stuck a needle in the lump and took some cells. It didn’t hurt.
The first time I met my surgeon she made a curious remark. She told me that her nurse told her that I am a really nice person. I said, “Thank you.” She then told me that unfortunately they find that nice people usually have cancer. At home I thought about that strange comment. Perhaps she already knew the diagnosis and was preparing me for it. I learned later that medical practitioners recognize
this phenomenon, just as there is a high estrogen marker there is also the “high nice” factor.
It was October 31st, Halloween day when I
received the test results. Trick or treat—which would I receive? The results from the biopsy showed ductal cancer. My surgeon would need to remove the lump. She gave me several dates for surgery, and I took the very first one.
It was November 9th. When you have cancer, dates become very important.
The way I found the lump was a comfort to me. I
felt God had a hand in helping me fall on the place where the lump was resting. If
it had not been for that fall, the cancer may have progressed to a more dangerous stage. I felt that that it was not my time to leave.
I found out that cancer affects friends and every member of your family. My family gave me strong
14
“The doctors are putting
me through some tests,” I
said to Tim Molak. Tim looked up, startled.
no!” He and Cathy had been through this twice
so he understood. Tim told me that if I received a positive diagnosis for cancer, I would become part of a sisterhood, and that he and Cathy had been surrounded by cancer survivors at the Relay for Life.
“Oh