The Canadian Cancer Society says that one in nine women is expected to develop breast cancer during her lifetime and one in 28 will die of it. 


My elderly next-door neighbor on one side of our home is a breast cancer survivor of nine years. Her daughter is a breast cancer survivor of 11 years.

My next-door neighbor on the other side of our home was diagnosed with breast cancer two weeks after I was. Her cancer surgery followed mine five days later. We are recuperating together.

What are the odds that three houses in a row on the same side of the street each have a woman living with a breast cancer diagnosis? How bizarre is that? One in nine Canadian women will develop breast cancer in her lifetime…really?

One of the breast cancer neighbors has wondered if the electric power substation that is a few houses down on the street has anything to do with it. There are some studies that have been conducted that say there is a connection, others say it’s not so. One of my surgery recovery nurses mentioned that there might be a connection. It instantly made me wonder if we need to sell our house that we’ve enjoyed as of late following extensive renovations to the interior and the yard.

The neighbor who is in active breast cancer treatment at the same time as me shares some similar characteristics. Neither of us have breast cancer histories in our families. She is a handful of years older, and has been a working professional for her entire career. She is used to accommodating a demanding job, is busy with it, and carries a lot of responsibility as a manager. She has worked full time outside the home for three decades and raised two children while doing it. Like me, she too is having a hard time slowing down her life dramatically in living with cancer.

In this journey, there is some comfort in traveling with my neighbor as she also battles for her life against cancer. I feel less alone as my experiences are also her experiences. We have the gift of time to spend together to get to know one another better, and to support each other in living with the same illness.

We compare notes about our cancer travels. It is therapeutic to know that we are experiencing many of the same feelings, fears, and surgery recovery symptoms. We compare notes about our boredom and adjusting to having time on our hands that we’re not quite sure what to do with. We compare notes about our hubbies and kids and how this disease touches lives beyond our own, forcing those close to us to travel in their own unique journeys in living with a family member who has cancer.

Now that my neighbor and I are both feeling a little stronger post-surgery, we are starting to go on daily walks together. We are enjoying the sunshine and fresh air that greets us on these jaunts along with the benefit of exercise to help us recover better. We are looking forward to sharing coffee and tea on our patios this summer as we undergo treatments, rest, and recover in managing our cancer.

Together we face our journeys in living with cancer with Strength, Courage, and Determination.