to be benign. Nine years later during a self-ex-
amination she discovered another lump which
when tested this time turned out to be stage 2 can-
cer. This happened in November 1999. Sandra ed-
ucated herself on the disease and armed with the
information she needed, she did surgery - a par-
tial radical mastectomy (removing her breast).
She then went through the dreaded process of chemother-
apy and radiation. Through it all she found something
that was far greater than cancer and its prognosis – and
that was the increased appreciation of LIVING daily.
Today, Sandra does not pretend that her journey has
been easy; she was very frank and transparent as she
spoke about the challenges, especially when she has
to deal with members of the opposite sex. She spoke
of feeling almost afraid to share herself and having
to ask herself - at what point do I tell them I have
only one breast - the question of acceptance was not
easily answered then and it’s still not easy even now.
time with family or spending time