Being Supported

Tonight I took a deep breath and attended my first ever support group: the Young Survivors Coalition monthly meeting. Whew. Walking up to a new group is never easy, but this is a club I definitely belong to, and I might as well accept the myriad of resources that are offered.

Here's what I learned:

Hair grows back and life goes on.

I also realized, really for the first time, that even though the hair DOES grow back and life does go on, the breast cancer stuff doesn't go away. Not really ever, potentially. So you get to LOOK like you're normal again, and relatively quickly, but there are still things to deal with. Stuff I don't know much about yet. Tumor markers, hormone therapy, ovary removal, bone density tests. Maybe even a hysterectomy. Phew! Too much to even think about right now, while I'm in the midst of chemo.

The nice thing about tonight is that I liked these women and will look forward to getting together again next month. The woman I was sitting next to turned out to be a neighbor. We exchanged phone numbers. She has hair again, and gave me some of her scarves. So maybe I will make a new friend from this as well.

Also on the theme of being supported, after a week of company, my lovely houseguests finally departed. Katie dubbed it Estrogen Fest 2007 and it was absolutely wonderful. I loved coming home from work and having Claudia and Katie here. Especially when I had a few days of walking in the door and bursting into tears (oh how I love steroid rebound!) It was really nice to have the company. Any time ladies... 'mon back! I refuse to believe that Katie won't visit from Amsterdam for a year (sniff sniff) and I am holding Claudia's car hostage, so I KNOW she'll have to come back.

I am a lucky woman. Not everyone has so much support. I do. And it matters.