It is hard for me to have regrets, especially when it comes to cancer treatment. I am thankful for every step of my journey. At the same time, voicing a few of my regrets after all this time might help others. A cancer patient needs as much information as possible to make the journey work.
PUBLISHED October 11, 2019
Felicia Mitchell is a poet and writer who makes her home in southwestern Virginia, where she teaches at Emory & Henry College. She was diagnosed with Stage 2b HER2-positive breast cancer in 2010. Website: www.feliciamitchell.net
I am such a Pollyanna. The proverbial glass is not just half full with me; the sun is hitting it in such a way that the water sparkles like diamonds. This attitude has served me well through some of life's harshest challenges, including breast cancer.
For example, the diagnosis made me happy. Happy! "Yay!" I thought, "How good that they found the cancer so I can be fixed."
When an oncologist told me I was HER2-positive but hormone-negative and would thus not need hormone therapy, I said, "That's great!" "No," he said, explaining HER2, "it's not." I persisted in believing I had a fortuitous diagnosis in the face of a complicated diagnosis.
When an oncologist told me I was HER2-positive but hormone-negative and would thus not need hormone therapy, I said, "That's great!" "No," he said, explaining HER2, "it's not." I persisted in believing I had a fortuitous diagnosis in the face of a complicated diagnosis.
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