This I Believe

The Strongest Women

Even as a little girl, I remember spending a lot of time over at my mom’s best friend’s house playing games on her daughter’s computer and playing with the cat called Cat. At the time I didn’t know that Ginny had already been diagnosed with breast cancer twice and had beaten it both times. But in 2006, things took a turn for the worst. Ginny was diagnosed with breast cancer again but this time it had spread to her lungs and brain. Because of Ginny I believe in inner strength.

Once Ginny found out she had breast cancer, she started doing research. She researched what kind of cancer it was, what treatment was out there, and what could be done to stop the cancer from spreading. Each time she was diagnosed with breast cancer it was a different type causing her to do more research. When Ginny found out that she had cancer for the third time she decided to have a mastectomy and started two different types of chemotherapy. During surgery, doctors were going to use a muscle from her back to bring to the front to cover the wounds. But when they went to get the muscle they found that the muscle had a hole in it. Due to the amount of chemotherapy she was having every week, it had went through her entire body and burned a hole in the muscles of her back. Since doctors were not able to cover the wound, Ginny had to wear a wound vac and dressings to keep out infection. Because of the open wounds, Ginny could not go outside to play with her grandson or go to public places. But she was determined to find someone to help her and after a year of research she found a doctor willing to help.

Although Ginny had surgery and has had a tremendous amount of chemotherapy, the cancer is still there. But Ginny is not giving up, she isn’t ready to leave her kids and her kids are not ready to lose her. Ginny will have to have chemotherapy for the rest of her life meaning she will never have hair, eyebrows, eyelashes, toe and fingernails ever again. I have always admired Ginny even as a little girl I remember wanting to be as cool as her. Watching her fight cancer and go through chemo has really opened my eyes to how strong she really is. Her strength has shown me that life isn’t worth giving up on and that I am capable of anything. Because of Ginny I believe in inner strength.