Date: Sunday, September 4, 2016
Mountain: Stinson Mountain
Trails: Stinson Mountain Trail

Submitted by Pat

Foreword: In July of 2016 a small lump was found in my right breast after my yearly mammogram. A biopsy and a meeting with the surgeon was scheduled for August 12. At 8am on August 16, the surgeon called and told me the tumor is malignant and I have Phase 1 breast cancer. From then on was a whirlwind of doctor's appointments, surgery (lumpectomy), finding out the cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes and that the surgeon had gotten all of it. This hike was the first hike I had been on since the diagnosis and I was still pretty sore, but it couldn't have come at a better time.

Great hike today. Although the trail is easy I find myself breathing hard the whole way up. This is the first time I have seen Nancy since the cancer diagnosis and I talk to her about my experiences all the way up. I enjoy retelling my story despite the many twists and turns I take in the telling. The view at the top is not spectacular and there are way too many people. I look forward to more hiking and hope the radiation treatment scheduled for October will not slam me.

As I sit here I don't feel that fullness of wanting to write, of having the words to express, of sitting on a bubble of ideas aching to explode out of me. I feel empty.

28/52 with a View