Annmarie Masi

Survivor

In the words of Gloria Garner…At first I was afraid , I was petrified. Kept thinking how could Breast Cancer come into my life…But then I spent so many nights thinking how cancer did me wrong. And I grew strong. And I learned how to get along…Oh no cancer not I…I will survive Oh, as long as I know how to love I know I’ll stay alive I’ve got all my life to live. And I’ve got all my love to give, and I’ll survive hey, hey.

After being diagnosed with stage 3 Breast Cancer, my wife and I decided to use laughter to conquer cancer. Prior to chemo we had a Pink Party at a barber shop and all our friends and family wore pink and fun wigs. My wife and I cut our hair and donated it to Locks for Love because I was going to become bald from chemo. All my FB friends participated in the party online and was very supportive.

We then called our chemo room the chemo lounge and all our family and friends would stop by the lounge to visit me during chemo. We would order in food, had music therapy and nonstop laughter. I would always wear some crazy wigs or funny finger puppets to keep my nurses on their toes and laughing. We had a huge bell ringing party and sang “ring my bell” when I finished chemo and rang the chemo bell.

I had such a wonderful group of family and friends that I called Team Kemo. Next, I had a double mastectomy and left the hospital wearing a cow outfit. After I healed, I had months of radiation, which for fun I would wear fake tattoos over my scars to keep my radiologist guessing what would be next. I’d have a scorpion, flowers or butterflies on my breast until I couldn’t because of the radiation.

We had a huge party after radiation and everyone got dressed up in pink hats, necklaces and outfits. Due to Covid I had my expanders in for over a year and was blessed to have a successful reconstruction surgery this past November. In 2021, I look forward to getting a beautiful flower tattoo to cover my scars. This was a two year journey and I feel cancer was a blessing. I got to correspond with everyone that I love and I conquered cancer.