Last year I met a new friend – at the time Jane was a 29 year old woman relocating to an area near me. The first things I realized we had in common were our interests in cooking, gardening, homemaking and reading. Shortly after our friendship began she was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer. Her specific type of cancer has an extremely high risk of reoccurance during her lifetime for not only breast cancer, but also for ovarian cancer. I have seen her go through 18 rounds of chemotherapy, loose her hair and grow it back, have a bi-lateral mastectomy and axillary node dissection, get Axillary Web Syndrome, go through physical therapy, prepare for radiation and have countless doctor’s appointments and phone calls. Through this all I have found we have even more things in common.

We both like to be proactive and research and learn as much as we can about the medical situations we are in. I know she would want me to take a moment here and remind you all to do your monthly self breast exams – that is how she discovered her tumor and probably saved her life. We try to stay as positive as possible, even when others with our medical conditions say things not so positive to us. We know all about pain and having low energy levels. We both are on the younger side of the age spectrum of the groups of people we have been around with our condition. Lastly, we try to live healthy, happy lives and appreciate all that we can.

Even though Jane’s breast cancer is life-threatening and my fibromyalgia is only life-altering I feel that there these two conditions have created many more similar areas of our lives and perhaps even strengthened our friendship. We both have seen the love, strength and support of our families, especially in our husbands. Sometimes I feel more similar to her than some of the people I’ve meet with fibromyalgia. Jane serves as a never-ending source of inspiration to me – I think if she can stay strong and positive with all she has going on, I can certainly do it with all that I have going on. Over the past year my friendship with Jane has re-emphasized to me the blessing that having positive people in your life truly is. Surrounding yourself with people like this can really make a difference in how optimistic and happy you feel.

*Cheers* to all the “Janes” out there!

This post was included in the Patients for a Moment Blog Carnival: Show Me the Love.

A purple ribbon for fibromyalgia and a pink ribbon for breast cancer