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Robin Hoesch
Hi all, my name is Robin Hoesch and I am a breast cancer warrior. Like many Type A personalities, I had clear goals and plans for my life and having breast cancer was not on my agenda. I have never been one to be frightened or back down from a challenge, but when the cancer diagnosis was confirmed, my world came to a screeching halt. I am young, I don’t smoke, I am not overweight, I have a very active and happy life (husband, 3 canine kids, swimmer, yoga, etc), and there is no history of cancer anywhere in my family. To then be told that I am a “triple negative”, which is NOT the norm, and to know there are no maintenance medications to help prevent a reoccurrence; what in God’s name was going on here? Family and friends, although well meaning, could not ease that horrifying feeling of dread and panic that would sneak up and grab me by the throat at the most unexpected times. How could they? They were not living with this bastard named cancer, I was. That’s when the proverbial light turned on! This is still my life and I will not give it over to this disease. I will not become this disease or let it turn me into less than who I am. I will never let it take away my joy. So, I did a great deal of research before meeting with my oncologist and made it very clear to her I would be an active part of my treatment and recovery. She was thrilled, and accepted my unusual input with grace and a lot of laughter. This battle has been long and hard both physically and emotionally. And yes, I do still get that panicky feeling every now and then or get anxious when the test results don’t come in fast enough for me. I will probably never know why my God put this fork in my road, but I do believe that I have made the right choices in which way to travel. I have been given many gifts and new insights along the way. I now know how strongly and deeply I am loved and how strongly and deeply I can love in return. I now see that caring from friends and family can take many different forms and pop up at the oddest times, but the feelings are sincere. I have been graced with new friends and many human saviors who will always remain close to my heart. I can continue with my joyful life and the opportunity to share part of my story with kind people like you. Take care of each other.
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