Introduction

I want to begin this blog today, by giving you a peek into the meaning of "No Nail Polish Please!" Some 3 months ago, I began noticing a change in my right nipple, it began to itch, burn and scale over. This wasn't the first time I had experienced "breast issues." Married to my childhood sweetheart nearly 40 years ago, we soon had three children. With a husband in college and money practically invisible, I decided I would breastfeed my first child in order to save money. With a friend who belonged to the La lache League for support, I began. Nursing all three of my children, I always felt that I would be safe from any kind of perils which involved the breast. It wasn't until I was nursing my second child one day, that I felt my first "lump." Because I was a stay at home mom, young and as usual, money was scarce, I put off going to the doctor until practically ten years later. By then, the lump had grown fairly large. I had a lumpectomy and found that I had a benign "fibroid cyst." Fast forward twenty years later, and I go for my next mammogram. This was five years ago. If it hadn't been upon the persistence of my family doctor, I probably wouldn't have had one then. With a family history of three of my mother's sisters having breast cancer and several cousins, one might add that I had a "suicide mission!" To say that I rarely go to the doctor, is an understatement. I've always been one of these people who take everybody else's medicine or try the "cure it yourself" routine. A lump was found, removed and diagnosed as an "Adenoma tumor" which was again, benign. Dealing with a hematoma the size of a golf ball, and visits back and forth to the doctor for several months, I got my fill of "breast issues." But, this time, something inside was telling me that I wasn't going to be as lucky as the previous two times. Caring for my grandson whom I cherished on afternoons and I feeling that no one else would be able to care for him, like Nana as well as my youngest daughter who was completing graduate school and stress for her school work was heaping up; I felt like if I waited a few more months, she would be graduated and back home, my grandson would be out of school and wouldn't need my care, and THEN I'd go to the doctor. It wasn't until I had returned back home from my daughter's graduation that I made the decision to have it checked out...this is where my journey begins...In reference to my title "No Nail Polish Please! I had made a trip to the hospital for preop...I received a paper, giving necessary instructions for my pending mastectomy that stated, no makeup and no nail polish on the day of surgery. For the past six years, I have used a silver toe nail polish. Everybody in my family would remark from time to time about "Mama's silver toe nails!" Approximately 5 months ago, I decided I would change the color, so I bought a bottle of garnet red polish. At the time, I didn't have any polish removal, but since I only had a sliver of the silver left on my left big toenail, I just polished the red right over it. Each month or so I'd add a coat on top of the last one, until I eventually had 5 or 6 layers. As I was removing all the "garnet red" from my toenails in anticipation of my breast surgery, I purchased a huge bottle of polish remover and a bag of cottonballs...after 20 minutes of removal of the red, which looked like someone had "bled to death in my bathroom" I saw something shining through on my left big toenail..as I peeked closer, I could see that it was the "silver" polish that I had left on before putting the many layers of red polish on. God spoke to me at that moment and said, "This is you my love, underneath all those layers, my precious jewel is still there. I have been a Christian for as many years as I can remember, but for the past 20 years, I have only been something I call a "wind up" Christian, "wind me up" and I'll go to church, I'll sing a song, I'll read some scriptures, you get where I'm going. But in January of this year, God spoke to me and said, it's time for you to come back to me. He instructed me to purchase a new Bible in "large print," and start in Genesis and read His word through to Revelation and it had to be a King James Version text. I asked Him if He was sure about the KJV as I usually read the NIV. As soon as I began, my faith became stronger and stronger. Spending many days engrossed in His Living Word, I could think of nothing else. Knowing that God had a purpose in leading me through His Mighty Word, I forged on. Three weeks ago, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Had I not been in His Word as I am, I don't know how I would have dealt with the devastating news. It seems, His plan for my life was far more sophisticated than I had for myself. But, I know that this is His way of removing all the nail polish until His precious jewel, can been seen shining through, once again...may God Bless any and everyone who reads this blog...