Throwing The Last Punch at Cancer
Lauren Harris
Issue date: 11/2/09 Section: True Story
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1997: 'This disease took half my thyroid along with my desire to wear v-neck shirts.'
2001: 'Cancer took two-thirds of my left lower eyelid and eyelashes.'
2003: 'Just when I thought cancer could not strike again, my breast cancer came back after over five years of remission and took both my breasts.'
While cancer has taken a part of Ann Harris in each of her four battles with the disease, the scars from each act as constant reminders of the wars she has fought and the obstacles she has overcome. Ann Harris is a living miracle and this is her story.
Winston Churchill once said that "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference," and for this young woman, attitude just might have been everything. While cancer is arguably the most feared word in the English dictionary, Ann confronted this disease head-on. She refused to think "why me?" Every morning, she visualized herself in a boxing ring against her enemy--cancer. Chemotherapy was a good thing, her friend, her cancer coach--not the enemy. Together, she and chemotherapy were going to kick cancer's ass.
Ann felt her first lump on the top of her breast while taking a shower. She had felt them before, but doctors attributed them to an addiction to Pepsi and caffeine. This time, however, her doctor said the three words no one wants to hear: "you have cancer." Even then, Ann never could have predicted that the next decade of her life would be consumed by so many manifestations of this disease. Stage II breast cancer. Basal cell carcinoma. Thyroid cancer. And again, breast cancer.
The disease invaded Ann's body, scarring her breast, eyelid, and neck; thinning her hair; causing her to gain weight; ruining her once-active lifestyle with constant nausea and exhaustion; and, worst of all, leaving a constant aluminum taste in her mouth. Cancer mimicked a flu that lasted for months as she received radiation and chemotherapy treatments. Pre-cancer, Ann used to enjoy sweets such as her mom's triple chocolate cake. However, cancer soon replaced her sense of taste with a metallic flavor that never left her mouth. Comfort food no longer brought Ann comfort. She jokes that at least she should have lost some weight, but the nausea drugs prescribed to tame her flu-like symptoms caused her to put on pounds. Cancer threw many one-two punches like this, trying to defeat Ann's spirit that somehow remained intact.
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