Battle Wounds

Scars are nothing more than stories imprinted on your body. They are not to be ashamed of, hidden, consumed with. For they are marks left behind for proof of our survival!

 My first scar

      The palm of my right hand tells of a summer filled with laughter, love, and fun. I was three and a half years old and I had the privilege of spending several weeks during the summer with my "Grandma Linda", she was the mother of my mother's best friend. I had adopted her as my Grandma; don't get me wrong I have two wonderful grandmothers but she too held a special place in my heart. It was scorching out in Miles City, Montana we needed quick relief. Her daughter Sherry worked at a hotel with a pool so I went with her to "beat the heat". Swimming brings out the thirst in someone; Sherry had given me an apple juice. At that time all juice came in glass bottles, I eagerly tried opening the juice. My hands were slippery and the juice tumbled out of my hands and onto the concrete patio. Glass flew everywhere including right into the palm of my hand. I was fine until I saw how much blood was pouring out of my hand. I am sure that I probably needed stitches but back then you didn't go to the hospital unless you were dying. It has been almost thirty years and I still have the scar. 

My second scar

      I had just gotten a brand new pair of jeans that day; for me it was a big deal as we were on a pretty fixed income. I was fifteen years old and was in the bathroom doing my hair getting ready to go out with friends. It was later in the evening and my parents were already in bed so I tried to be as quiet as I could. All the lights in the house were off so I headed for the front door with excitement. To my surprise my sister had a giant guinea pig cage blocking the path to freedom. I tripped over the cage and felt a sharp pain on my left inner thigh. I hobbled back to the bathroom to assess the damage. My brand new pants were not only covered in blood but had a giant rip along the knee. The cage had ripped open my new jeans and massacred the side of my leg right above the knee. It looked as if someone had taken a potato peeler to my leg several times. I was more devastated that my new jeans were ruined than my leg.

My third scar 

     I have been struggling with my weight my entire life. When I was 27 a doctor finally discovered I had thyroid cancer. I had one of two options, radioactive iodine or surgery. I opted for surgery as the iodine would have meant I could no longer breastfeed my son. The doctor reassured me every visit that thyroid cancer was the type of cancer you hoped for, it was simply an annoying cancer. When he opened me up he uncovered a scene he was unprepared for. I had hundreds of nodes in my neck, wrapped around my vocal cords stuck to everything. My thyroid was like sticky gum splattered all over the inside of my neck. They were successful in removing almost all of it except a small portion by my vocal cords which was too risky to remove. After a day in the hospital I wanted to go home to recover. He would call us with the results. The next night he phoned me from his cell phone and said he had to call me on his way home to share the results with me. He said when he opened me up and saw it he almost fell to his knees. He was unsure of what he was going to tell my husband as he was unsure of what my outcome might be. He had only seen this far advanced cancer one other time in his life. While removing the nodes he told the surgery staff I can't believe this cancer! He said he would have bet over a million dollars that it was cancer. The results were negative not even a precancerous cell. He had never seen a thyroid like that, which was not cancerous. The scar on my neck is proof that the Lord had answered our prayers.        

My last scar

     My last scar was earned on December 17, 2006. It is not a scar you can see from the outside. This scar is deeper than any other scar seen. It will be there for the rest of my life, and I cannot have it removed. It is a scar given only to members of a hidden club. It is in my heart and has changed it forever. Although I wish I would never have been given it, I am proud to have it.

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