{Monday} Moments: You Just Never Know

You just never know

what moments

will make up the fabric
of an ordinary day.  

On Friday, as the

snow drifted down

steadily outside our

windows, I opened

an e-mail from a

complete stranger.

She had written to

ask me a favor.

Why?  In her own

words, Heather wrote:

Your visitors are the

exact type of people

I am trying to reach

out to; the kind of

people who could 

gain something from

my story.

And what a story.

Heather and her husband

were blessed with their

only child, Lily, in 2005.

When Lily was just

three and a half months old,

Heather was diagnosed

with a type of cancer called

malignant pleural 
mesothelioma.

I'm sure you've seen 

the ads on TV for people

suffering with this cancer. 

They show retired miners,

construction workers or

factory laborers, because

there is a link between a 

substance called asbestos, 

which many products used

to be made from, and 

mesothelioma.

In those ads, I've never

seen a 36 year old mom 

with a newborn.

Heather and Lily, 2005

Turns out this self-

proclaimed daddy's girl

 had a father who worked

 in construction and brought

dust home on his clothes.

Dust mixed with asbestos.

Nobody knew then that

something as innocent as

a young girl throwing on

her dad's coat and boots to

run outside and feed her

rabbits would lead to the
word cancer being written
in her life story, later on.

And what a cancer.

Malignant pleural 

mesothelioma is 90-95% 

fatal. Heather's thoughts

immediately went to her

baby.  I won't see

her grow up.  

But her story had
a different ending.

She is one of

the 5-10%.

Her diagnosing doctor 
suggested the new mom
consider consulting with a

specialist in Boston, who had

pioneered a surgery for

pleural Mesothelioma.  Since

the cancer had not spread

to her lymph nodes, Heather

was a candidate for this
major surgery and chemo.

She credits that surgery,

along with faith, gratitude

and a strong will to live,

for being cancer-free, 

six years later.

Would you consider placing

a link to my blog on your site

as a resource for your readers?

She had me at hello.

Read more about Heather's

journey and her campaign 
to spread hope for
Mesothelioma survival,
 here.

Heather and Family, today.

You just never know

what moments will

make up the fabric
of an ordinary day.

xx

Suzanne

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moments, here at our
virtual water cooler, by
leaving a comment or
linking a post.

Don't be shy.....we'll make

room : )