Spreading the Optimism

Who is your hero? When asked this question, I’m willing to bet that everyone can think of at least one person whom they can call a hero. Maybe your hero is someone you look up to, or someone who is courageous, someone who you go to for advice, or guidance, or someone who is an inspiration to you. Sandy Parr is who I go to for all of the above: courage, advice, guidance, and most of all, an inspiration as she fought and overcame her struggle with breast cancer. For all of this, Sandy (or Mom to me) is my hero.

After her annual mammogram check-up in October 2009, doctors reported an abnormally large lump in her left breast. However even so, the doctors reassured Mom it was “probably fine” due to the preexisting, benign lumps already in her breasts. The saying “Mom knows best” proved to be true when she did not take “probably fine” for a final answer. After weeks of back and forths with doctors and the insurance companies, Mom was finally, officially diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer- the most aggressive of the forms. It was disbelief after disbelief as Mom calmly announced that she would need to remove her left breast and undergo eight rounds of chemotherapy.

However hard the news was, throughout every stage of her battle with cancer, Mom showed her strength, determination, and her inner fighter. She wasted no time as she became proactive about how to overcome cancer in any way that she could. She began reading anything and everything, and implemented the best changes she could in her diet and lifestyle. Now, over a year later from her diagnosis, Mom has finished her treatments and has recovered fully. At times it is scary to me of the cancer’s potential to come back, but this never even seems to be a thought with Mom who maintains her optimism about conquering it.

For now, it is all we can do to keep spreading the optimism in every way we can so that more people will be able to fight and overcome as Mom did. Sandy was an active walker in last year’s F.A.B. 5 K and both her and I are eagerly awaiting June when we can unite with fellow friends, neighbors, and community to remind us of who our real heroes are in the face of cancer.