The painting at the top of this newsletter, "A Day at the Beach," will be available at the American Impressionist Society's Small Works Showcase which opens May 12th at Wilder Nightingale Fine Art in Taos NM. For more information about the exhibition visit www.americanimpressionistsociety.org.
And now for some personal news...the last few weeks I've been dealing with some difficult news, but in that was some very good news. On January 27th I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I underwent surgery two weeks ago (lumpectomy/lymph node removal). So the very good news...praise God that there was no spread into the lymph nodes and my margins were clear. And I've now learned that I will NOT have to have chemo, only radiation. I will know more about timing, how much, etc on March 17th. I want to thank everyone who have been praying, sending texts, messages, cards, flowers...it has been such a roller coaster of emotions. I'm beyond grateful that God has answered our prayers and I am extremely fortunate that we caught it early...stage 1a. PLEASE...FRIENDS, DO YOUR SELF EXAMS AND DO NOT RELY SOLELY ON MAMMOGRAMS. Here's why...I've had yearly mammograms since I was in my 20s (due to several lumps which were all benign). I've never been good about self exams. I found a lump quite by accident just before Christmas. I woke up in the middle of the night, had an itch between my armpit and breast, and when I scratched/rubbed it, I felt the lump. It was like a siren going off in my head screaming "don't ignore this." I had just had a 3D mammogram in August and nothing showed up on it. I had another 3D mammogram at the end of December, after finding the lump and they couldn't find anything. Then the doctors decided to immediately do an ultrasound and saw it there. I had a biopsy on Jan. 25th and got the hard news on the 27th. I had a breast MRI the following week as my team of doctors didn't like that it didn't show up on the mammogram and wanted to make sure there was nothing else "hiding." Turns out it was in an area that the mammogram doesn't reach...very deep, close to the chest wall and on the outer edge of the breast tissue. And thankfully the MRI showed no other tumors.
I'm sharing my story in the hopes that if it helps even one person to decide to get their mammogram, or do a self exam in order to catch this beast early, it will be well worth it. If you find something, don't wait to get it seen to. Early detection can save your life...it has mine.
As many of you know, my gallery has been open by appointment for the last couple of months. Due to my upcoming treatments, we will continue to be open by appointment for the time being. Please know that normally either hubby Don or I can meet you at the gallery within a few minutes time so please be sure to call us if you want to come by. Thanks so much for bearing with us as we get through the next several weeks. Your friendship and support mean the world to us!
With sincere gratitude,
Debra Joy Groesser (and Don too!)
