"I'm sorry, I made a mistake. There is cancer," was the numbing news that came over the phone from my first doctor. My husband and I had just gotten home from our doctor's office where we were told the biopsy came back fine and he would see me in three months for a follow-up visit. Now a phone call..."A mistake?" I thought. It had to be a mistake...I had just turned 38...there was no history of any kind of cancer in my family...now what? As the doctor's voice turned into the Charlie Brown teacher voice (waa, waa,) my head was reeling and my husband's look of confusion were all I could remember. "No. You are not doing surgery on Wednesday. I am getting another opinion. You made one mistake, there won't be a second." And I hung up the phone. This was the beginning of my cancer journey. Through two surgeries, chemo, and radiation the support from my friends, family, coworkers, and students was completely overwhelming. But my main support came from my family. My thirteen year old daughter, my mother, and my 80 year old grandmother were always by my side. Cleaning the house, doing the laundry, cooking meals, taking kids to school and ball practices and making sure I could just sleep. It was hard, because I was use to being the one to take care of everyone else, but cancer has a way of making you slow down and put things into perspective. I feel very blessed to have these women in my life. We have always been close, but now we are inseparable. A breast cancer diagnosis is life changing, but it is up to you whether or not it is a positive or negative change. I chose POSITIVE!

Jill Kasler
Millfield, OH