Marqui Mcpherson
Battling Breast Cancer is About Inspiring, Embracing, and Motivating.
Hearing the news that the pathology report tested positive for Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer was not a surprise to me. At a very young age I watched one of my favorite aunts suffer and lose the battle against breast cancer. Since then there was always a fear growing inside of me that I would one day face the same battle. It was almost as if I felt cursed or knew I was pre-destined to one day go down this road. But just like anyone who ever experienced the first time uttering the words to themselves, “I have cancer” the tears began to fall. I decided that was the first and last day I would ever shed a tear over my diagnosis.
I wanted to find a way to make this battle worth it, by making a difference, by becoming an inspiration to others. I decided to take the worry out of everything. I stopped worrying about chemo, losing my hair, not surviving or even losing a breast. Those things no longer mattered to me, they no longer scared me. What scared me the most was missing my opportunity to turn this into something beautiful.
When I was first diagnosed, the radiologist decided she wanted to perform a second biopsy on another tumor to determine if I had multifocal or multi-centric breast cancer. While in the waiting room I noticed an older lady coming out of one of the exam rooms. The look on her face was all too familiar, filled with shock and heartache. As she stood alone with her body trembling, I could tell she was fighting back the tears. Something pulled on my heart to find a way to embrace her. I offered her a glass of water and I told her, “Something is tugging on my heart to hug you right now”. So I gave her a big hug and I told her everything will be okay. There was a small sense of relief on her face to know she was not alone.
To me it’s events like that, that make all of this worth it. I know I am handling all of this better than most. Why is that? I do not know. Maybe it hasn’t truly hit me yet. I don’t know. But what I do know is God only chooses his strongest warriors to endure the worst, and for that reason I am looking forward to this battle. There is a reason God chose me to take on this battle and I don’t want to waste any time as I try to discover why.
I am currently in the midst of my chemotherapy treatment and I am embracing and loving this bald head of mine. I use to be a person wrapped up in hair. I use to be jealous of girls with long beautiful hair that was naturally theirs. I use to spend hundreds of dollars on weaves and extensions. But now, none of that even matters. I feel beautiful without having to spend hundred on weaves, and being jealous of other women is a thing of the past. I am beautiful just the way I am. I am not my hair and my hair does not make me beautiful. What shows on the inside makes a person beautiful and I believe and feel that now.
My little bald head and my never-ending smile tell my story!
