GAZELLE MAGAZINE OCT/NOV 2016 HEALTH ISSUE | Page 50

SPECIAL HEALTH SECTION

HEALTH & WELLNESS

Just A Mom
Destroying Cancer
THE DAY THE DOCTOR TOLD ME I WOULDN’T DIE

B y N a t a s h a Fo g a r t y

I

opened my eyes, and for a small second, the world was normal
again. I had forgotten why my alarm was going off. Did I have
to work today? No. Oh no! I have cancer.
It all flooded back in a second. Today was the day. Is this
going to kill me? Has it spread to other parts of my body? My
head was spinning. Though I did feel calm. I know it sounds crazy, but
prayers do help. I felt different. I was still scared out of my mind, but
there was this overwhelming sense of calm that had taken over me.
As a family, we started our day driving to the hospital for my MRI.
If no one has told you about an MRI, get ready to be forever terrified
of them. I absolutely hated it. I don’t really know what I expected. I
did not expect it to hurt me. 
I first had to lay face down on this weird slab that had two square
holes for my breasts to hang in. Yes, they were square. On what planet
do women have square breasts? Anyway, the technician handed me
headphones and told me she would play some music to help drown
out the sound once the machine started.
She started to move me back into the MRI machine. She told me
there would be some pressure… pressure! I felt like I was a piece of
meat being packaged for sale. Oh my goodness! I lifted my head up,
and my heart started racing. She asked if I was OK. I was so not OK,
but I said, “Yeah, it is just really tight on my butt.” Unfortunately, this
is normal. My back was contorted in a very uncomfortable way. I
have a big butt, and it was being smashed into this sausage making

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