Jerri's Story from New York

Hi. My name is Jerri! I feel like I am part of a whole new group now! While it is not the sort of group you willingly sign up for, such as say a PTA Member, a Ladies Auxiliary Aide, or even for those who need help such as an Alcoholics Anonymous Member, it is a group I joined nonetheless, but it does not necessarily mean I am sorry I had to join!

My life has changed drastically in the last six months! What used to seem so important, now takes a backseat to what really is and that is my health, so I can be here for my son Anthony. He is 12 years old and I must say it was not always an easy 12 years. We have had our knocks in life, but none like this -that is for sure!

However, this dreaded cancer, this breast cancer that has happened to so many people and has now affected my life, has brought him and I so much closer. It is almost a blessing in disguise that because I will be a survivor and beat this cancer, have my son and boyfriend, who has stood by me through it all, that I have come away with a new awareness of what is really most important in my life!

If the doctors told me a year ago what my life would be like right now, I wouldn't have believe it. I was struggling through life, like most any single parent does, trying to work and make ends meet and just living day to day. Now, I feel a whole new sense of living each day to the fullest.

Am I sick? Yes! Do I cry why me, why me? Yes! But knowing the support of my family, friends and the whole community, makes me take a step back and say, “Wow - people really love me and are willing to see me through this.” That is an awfully good feeling, let me tell you!

I am 39 years old! I have had a double mastectomy to try to get rid of the cancer and then after the operation, which was a traumatic enough experience, I ended up having an infection that put me back in the hospital for two weeks. That was the hardest. I did the right thing in not worrying about vanity with my body, only to have an infection complicate matters and frankly scare the hell out of me!

Thank God I am home now and things are going better. I still have a very long road ahead of me, but I am going to beat this thing! So, when you hear Melissa Ethridge's song "I Run For Hope", know that I will keep running for my son, my family and my friends and mostly for me and other cancer survivors!

Though I, of course, wish this never happened, I can't help but be a little grateful, that I can look around now and realize how great a gift life really is and know that I will run for it! Cancer is no longer a faceless thing to me.

Buchanan, New York