A STORY OF SURVIVAl
Lisa Hicks-Kinney and her husband Scott.
CHEMO
Barbie
Guest columnist lisa Hicks
Kinney discusses breast
The jokes may not have been the funniest shoulder to cry on and they held my hand
cancer, finding humor in
(heh, I was only 8!) but they were enough to down a long and difficult road.
the midst of fear and her
give this 6’ 6” lion of a man a much-needed Throughout my journey, there have been
chuckle or two. And I quickly learned, at a many uncertain times. I remember the night
journey of transformation.
very young age, the healing power of humor. before my first lumpectomy.... I was attending
aS told to monIca topEtE
It was this same sense of humor I would a local charity event sponsored my boss and a
heavily rely upon in September of 2008 when, co-worker and I were talking about my surgery.
after finding a lump above my breast, I was There was a lot of tension in the air, not knowing
diagnosed with “aggressive mucinous infiltrating my fate, and it got quiet, uncomfortably so, like
G
rowing up, my father was the carcinoma.” In layman’s terms, breast cancer. those days in my living room when my dad
Chief of Police in the city where The ‘C’ word rang in my ears like a bomb seemed to carry the weight of the world on
we lived. It was an important job, exploding over my head. You’ve got to be kidding his shoulders. At one point, I looked up at
but also a heart-breaking one. me, I thought. At the time, I had just been my friend and sighed, ‘Well, I guess I’m going
And when, at the end of a long day pummeled by a divorce to become Chemo
filled with domestic violence, child that would make the
abuse and other horrible crimes, my dad would War of the Roses look (
The ‘C’ word rang in Barbie!’ (My circle of
my ears like a bomb...
) friends often referred
walk though our front door, I could see the like a love story and now to me as Barbie—
M seriousness of his day all over his face. While he I had cancer?!!! I felt hopeless and alone. blue eyes, long blond hair, big….well, you get
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Y
.
C
H
sat in his big green chair, losing himself in the Fortunately for me, my mother had spent the point.) We both broke out in laughter and,
P
A
R din of the television as he waited for my mother her entire adult life volunteering for every for a moment, things didn’t seem so desperate.
G
T
O
O to finish dinner, I would sit there, silently, charitable organization under the sun. Near When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I
H
P
N
O
thinking up ways to make him smile. and dear to her heart was Michelle’s Place, had no health insurance at the time because I
S
N
H
‘Dad, did you have tacos for lunch today?’ a breast cancer resource center in Murrieta could only afford coverage for my children. Then
S
J
O
E
I might ask. ‘I can tell because it’s all over that provides support and resources to women I learned the cancer had spread. So I was forced
M
A
your shirt!’ Or, ‘Dad, did you have a tough battling breast cancer. The women at Michelle’s to take a leave without pay so I could undergo
Y
J
B
T
O day to day?’ ‘I can tell because your hair is Place became my guardian angels on earth. several invasive surgeries (a lumpectomy,
O
H
P sticking straight up!’ They were always there to lend an ear or a double mastectomy and reconstruction [twice]),
continUed on Pg. 36
MYUNDERTHESUN.COM l OCTOBER 25
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