my story
By Evey Fuller-Moore
Editor’s Note: “My Story” is a first-person column about health issues that touch New Albany community members. Have a story to share? Email lfreudenberg@cityscenemediagroup.com. Submissions should be no more than 1,000 words.
Phoenix Rising How my life changed and then how I changed my life
I
t was Charles Dickens who said, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” I never appreciated the full meaning of this statement until seven days before Christmas in 2017 when I got the call. “We need to do a 3-D mammogram as your yearly has come back unusual.” I remember standing up in the middle of the library and screaming, “Do I have cancer?!” Of course, the doctors can’t give you definite answers right away, as more tests are needed. Let me just say, you immediately think you’re going to die. The holidays that year were somewhat of a blur. I didn’t tell anyone as I didn’t want to “ruin it” for my family. Plus, my husband’s mother had died from breast and ovarian cancer, and I couldn’t even begin to fathom telling him. On Dec. 29, 2017, I had a 3-D mammogram and then they did an ultrasound. I knew it wasn’t good. I had breast cancer, and I had to tell my husband. He took the news as well as you’d expect. Let’s just fast forward through 2018. I’ll spare you the gory details. A week after being told I had breast cancer, I got a severe case of the flu and ended up in the emergency room. After being bedridden for a couple of weeks, I then
began the journey of numerous biopsies, surgeries and doctor visits over the course of months. Oh, my! It was not a fairy tale. I had reactions to every medication and every cream. Radiation burnt me like a toasty marshmallow. And just to really top off the year, I lost my job of 18 years to downsizing and turned 50. I know what you’re thinking, “Well, that was the worst of times.” But indeed, it was really the best. Cancer caused me to take a good hard look at my workaholic life and make drastic changes. I created the Phoenix Rising Strategy to transform my life and help others. Perhaps, as you read this story, you’re facing an opportunity, whether a health crisis, job loss, death of a loved one or other life event. Pause and ask yourself these questions – questions I The inspirational bracelet and phoenix necklace correlate with her upcoming book, Phoenix Rising: Out of the Darkness, Into the Light. asked myself. 10
Evey Fuller-Moore’s husband, Tom, and their daughter, Sara.
Plan: How are you going to survive? I decided that I wasn’t going to die. Or, if I was, I was going to give it one heck of a fight. I managed my cancer using a project plan. Every day I set two goals for myself: one for my health and one to move my life in a new direction. This, from someone who ran her entire life before with multiple lists that filled pages and spreadsheets to match, was a lot. Literally, my new goal for the day was as simple as “get out of bed” or “sit in a chair for 10 minutes.” Ponder: How are you going to change? Given all my new free time lying around on my back as I looked at the ceiling and willed myself to heal, I had a lot of time to think about what I really wanted my life to be and what changes I was going to make. My biggest fear had never been dying, but losing my job. When that happened, I quit being afraid. www.healthynewalbanymagazine.com
