Of Hurricanes and Breast Cancer...

Soccermom4force

My Life in Hurricanes

   August 24th 1992, 4 months pregnant and living aboard our sailboat ,the "ANNA B" in the Bahamas.. my husband,dog and I experienced Hurricane Andrew. I was given the choice to fly to Miami to weather out the storm, but decided we'd stay together in his office on Paradise Island (where my husband worked). Little did i know at the time what a good decision that was..2 weeks later while flying North to see my family I got to see Miami and its environs..shattered.
   A move to the Mississippi Gulf Coast the following year and Hurricane Georges affected our lives on Sept. 1998. Georges was a Cat3 and left behind a less widespread but neveertheless heartbreaking path of destruction.
   Many times over the years we evacuated for one storm or another but nothing serious, and we suffered only minor damage to our home and to our psyches.
   In August of 2005, just 8 weeks after completeing my first 8 rounds of tough chemotherapy for breast cancer and 1 month to the day prior having lost my Mom to breast cancer, chaos struck.
Hurricane Katrina was Biloxi bound and we werent taking any chances..we`packed up our 2 English Springer Spaniels,1 cat, 1 betta (named "Lucky") my then 12 year old daughter and
headed to the nearest place we could get a hotel room..Tallahassee, Florida.Normally a 4 hour trip it took us 8 hours due to the massive amounts of people evacuating.
The next day it was evident we wouldnt be returning home for a long time..6 weeks to be exact. But we were the lucky ones...so much loss of life and so much loss in general...Horrible scenes we were to see even upon our return.We`rented a place by the beach, volunteered at the Red Cross Center and I began my new chemotherapy at an Oncologists office that was` kind enough to take me on with no medical records. It was the strangest of times..sad, scary, horrifyling...but we were safe and together.
   Today August 25th ,2012...just 4 days before the 7th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina I sit here reminiscing about storms passed and the one called Isaac just heading our way...and I am anxious..I know we've been through worse..its just that the memories come back to roost.
  And so my friends all the way from Florida to New Orleans, I m thinking of you all and praying that we will all come out of this storm,intact and unscathed.

Marcia, August 26th 2012

Moderators

Marcia, thank you for sharing your timely first-hand perspective on hurricanes and breast cancer!

For everyone facing the threat of natural disaster any kind, the main Breastcancer.org site has Ways to Prepare for a Natural Disaster, specifically for those who are also dealing with breast cancer.

• Your Mods

Soccermom4force

You're most welcome "Mods" hopefully the link to the NCI will be helpful for anyone in treatment in the areas affected by Isaac!



Warmly,

Marcia