From Rain Came
By Elle Febbo
It was a beautiful morning; I was headed to my girlfriend’s birthday lunch with my three year old son in tow, but first had to stop by the der- matologist’s office for my follow up appointment. Just a week earlier, I’d had a biopsy after coming in for what I thought was a blemish that simply refused to go away, however I had now been invited back to “discuss the results”. I felt inconvenienced by the entire event, and was annoyed that the results had never been sent to me, as I’d requested. I had even left my self-addressed stamped envelope, as they had requested.
I waited in the lobby area to be called back, at first just anxious to get to my girlie gathering at the Galleria, but between the superficial thoughts of girlie gatherings and the life wrenching moment that would come next, was a death and a rebirth, all at once. In that moment, like puzzle pieces magically floating together to complete a picture, slowly, it all began make sense, and a tidal wave of anxiety and fear washed over me, seemingly knocking me backward 50 paces, as I then had trouble catching my breath.
I had to come back to “discuss” the results, I never got my lab work sent to me, and all for good reason. Something was wrong, and I knew it now. The biggest transition of my life happened in slow motion, in a void I was sure could not be real.
The Miracle in Melanoma
I was taken back to the exam room eventually where I was quickly met by the Dr., his nurse, and a sweet front office assistant, Jessica, who offered to occupy my young son so I could spend some time talking with the Dr.; however, I saw my child as protective armor now. They can’t give you ghastly news about your health if you’re a young mother, alone with a child…can they?
Well, they can if you refuse to let him go and color with Jessica…and do you know what? It may as well have been me who went to color with Jessica, because as soon as I heard the word “Cancer” I mentally checked out, and today, I still can’t recall much of what was said. I did understand however, that at only 33 years old, I had Melanoma; the deadli- est form of skin cancer known to humanity, and one that kills 1 Ameri- can every hour. Melanoma cells are in an utter rush to multiply and spread rapidly to other organs and tissues in the body, and because of this, I was referred to a specialist, and my life has never been the same. For this, I owe my gratitude to my Creator.
I’ve been on a mission since 2007 to educate the masses on Sun Safety and Healthy Skin through many mediums, (television, public speak- ing, publishing, etc), but primarily by way of the God gifted project
aspiremag.net
I started later that same year. The Barefoot Sisterhood Foundation was created as a tool for education, but quickly became a caring community of individuals and corporate sponsors alike who shared my vision to SAVE lives and, to date, has supported more than 75 women with referrals and/or biopsies. With more than 27 million American Women currently without health insurance, we must maintain compassion in our hearts for how difficult the choice must be to make: dinner on her table or a biopsy she tells herself is “probably nothing, anyway”.
Strength came in numbers, and that unity illuminated possibility; soon we were able to assist women with limited options, and support preven- tative measures through education, referrals and funded biopsies.
I’ll admit that at first, I thought that the foundation had saved my life. I had reason, I shared a message, and I lived out loud in the vulnerable newness of this raw human process, ultimately the purpose of my gift. Looking back though, I can see it wasn’t the Foundation itself that saved me; it was the angels I met along the way, who celebrated the value of human life and carried the message on, who were the real mir- acles. My best friend, and business
See Flowers page 44
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