My ReBirth Happy Birthday

I love it when I see any of the various doctors I have and I can share a laugh. Not only does it break any tension I might be feeling, it helps us to connect on a very simple level. It makes us equals and so we come to the table as two people...one who is there to give help and one who needs help. Laughter removes any barrier to intimidation or superiority that might be felt by one or the other and allows us to just be ourselves.

Some doctors laugh more readily than others. And I believe that some doctors have forgotten how to laugh...they are so wrapped up in their work and in their schedules that doing something as simple as laughing is almost foreign to them. They only need reminding. I have yet to meet a doctor that I have not spent some time sharing laughter. I did have one surgeon many years ago who took himself extremely seriously and I was told on many occasions that the nurses were terrified of him. He had (and most definitely probably still does) very high standards of himself and those around him. The day I made him laugh was a victory for me...and a surprise to so many others.

The surgeon I had for my breast surgeries is someone who never takes himself too seriously. He takes his work seriously, he takes his patients' welfare and well being seriously but he is human and allows that to show through. When I made him laugh the days he did both my surgeries, I knew I was in excellent hands. Today we shared much laughter as he was giving me my mammogram results. Yes, the results were good, but I believe that even had they not been, we would still have found something to laugh about. He's just that kind of person.

I discussed with him the controversy about "when" you start counting your survivorship. Some schools of thought say when you have finished treatment. Some say it is after surgery. Personally I have started counting from the day I was diagnosed. According to this wonderful man, counting from any point started many years ago when doctors were trying to keep track of how life expectancy changed as treatments for breast cancer improved over the years. As far as being able to mark when it is safe, he reminded me that it is never really "safe". There is no magic number you reach where you can say "that's it, I beat this, it's not coming back" because really, no one knows that. One of the great mysteries. His philosophy is much like mine. It's one day at a time and you have "this" day and it is good. But he did agree with me...from the date of diagnosis is the time to start counting forward.

When I told him that I started counting from the day of my diagnosis to this point which is now four years, 3 months to the day ... and counting, I also told him that I consider the whole experience a rebirth and I am officially 4 years young now. Wishing that I knew then what I know now...I look forward to my 5th birthday. To which we both burst out laughing. And he's very much looking forward to celebrating my 5th birthday with me next summer.

*photo found on google.com