Page 86 2023 PAINT THE PAPER PINK Lincoln Daily News Oct/Nov 2023 construction of the Simmons Cancer Center at Memorial in Springfield. He spoke with one of the doctors whom he was acquainted with, and the doctor agreed to look at all the information available and offer an opinion. That doctor agreed with the original plan of action and John was satisfied. Andrea says she also believes that her cancer was harder on her husband than it was on her, in a different way of course, but still much harder. She said mainly, he spent a lot of time making her behave herself. She had orders to follow including she had to sleep elevated, and she wasn’t permitted to raise her arms. John fixed her a place on the couch and throughout the night would set the alarm and get up to tend to her scheduled needs. He would help with medications and bring her “cracker baby” snack with almond milk. He took notes on all of her progress and helped keep her wounds clean and dressed. She said that because of this the drain tubes she had were removed sooner than anticipated. She said the true test of commitment may have been the day she said she was not going to go any longer without shaving her underarms. He argued with her that she was not supposed to do that, she couldn’t lift her arms. Being her stubborn self, Andrea told him it was going to happen. What did happen, she said was remarkable. Getting down on his knees, she rested her hand on his head, and he shaved her underarms for her, an act of love that brings tears to Andrea’s eyes even today, 10 years after the fact. Andrea says that all of her cancer story happened the way it was supposed to. She doesn’t think she could have done much of anything differently. She was healthy, she had her checkups, she was physically active, and other than maybe looking into the pain a little bit sooner than she did, there was nothing to tell her she needed to worry. Always being the one to laugh at herself, Andrea said that her fake breasts are pretty nice. They are not as large as her own, but they are good. She laughs and says, “the rest of me may sag and bag but these babies are always going to be good.” Andrea said there were also hidden blessings that came out in the open when she was diagnosed. She said you are often aware that people care for you, love you. But when they find you are battling, they are more expressive of that love, more open with their feelings and their support. “So, it is a blessing wrapped in a tumor.” The cancer also changed Andrea’s life in other positive ways. She said that she decided to change careers, to go back to school and get her higher degrees, she came to Lincoln and took on a project that was brand new and untested. She has bravery in her professional life and her personal life that she didn’t have before. Before cancer, “I was never a risk taker, scared of everything, never spontaneous, and too afraid to ever focus on what was possible. Now I’m like what’s the worst that could happen?” For the sake of the other women in her family, she had the BRCA testing. In the end it determined that her cancer was not genetic. She said what she was finally told was that her cancer was “just bad luck.” [Nila Smith]
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