Well golly, it's December 9th. Hi everybody, welcome to the Daily Grateful. My name is Michael Kroos and we're here to talk about I am absolutely not even freaking sure, but I'll think of something during the music. What do you think?
So, five years ago, I went with my favorite ex-wife to the doctor. She called and asked me to go to the doctor with her. I said, sure. Kind of strange, but I said, okay.
I went to the doctor with her. And the doctor, she had had a mammogram, and the doctor went to see her, and I went with her, and the doctor said, you have breast cancer. I went right there, very direct. And what do you do now?
Okay, I've heard like a million stories about breast cancer. Catch it early, chance of survival is good. Did it spread to any of the lymph nodes? I mean, all kinds of stuff that were all the variables.
I mean, you know, I was scared just poopless. I truly was. I mean, here's a woman who I consider my best friend in the entire world. The woman I trust more than anyone else in the world.
The woman who I, you know, was a fabulous wife, and is a fabulous ex-wife, and she had to face this. And you know what she did? Rolled up her sleeves and said, what do we do? And we went and we met with this lady oncologist.
And the oncologist looked at all of her numbers, looked at all of the, you know, the films and everything like that. I remember going into this woman's office five years ago, and she said, here's what I would suggest that you do. I would suggest that you have surgery. I don't think you need a mastectomy.
I think you need just to remove the, you know, what is there, the thingy. And, you know, she said, okay, let's do it. Schedule it. Like a few days later, we're at the hospital, and she has the surgery.
And she comes out of the surgery, and she's fine. Meet with the oncologist again. Oncologist, how do I pronounce it? I don't know.
She said, okay, here's the next thing I would suggest that you do. I think we got everything. As a matter of fact, I'm reasonably sure we got everything. I would like you to go on this medication for five years.
But the other option is to have chemotherapy, along with, and then start this medication after the chemotherapy. It's not necessary, but it's something that, you know, you could do. And she gave us a percentage. I don't remember what the percentage is.
But she said the, you know, something about five-year survival rate increased by, it was a high number. I forget what it was, but it was a high enough number. And Diane said, yeah, let's do that. I'll do chemotherapy.
I've been through chemotherapy with my sister. And I got to tell you, it was the scariest damn thing ever gone through. It was horrendously horrible. And I said, okay, I'm going with you.
And I went with her every time. And then that was going to be followed up with radiation. So we went and we did a chemotherapy thing every week. It was like six rounds of chemotherapy.
All of her hair came out. God, look, just beat her down to nothing. You know, chemotherapy is basically poison designed to kill the cancer. But, you know, but also, it took the, it just took the life on her.
But she was brave, man. She was just as brave as she could be. She went through it. And I was so grateful that she did.
So we finally get done with that. And then she goes, and the last thing is, I think it was four or five rounds of radiation. And I remember on the last round of radiation, this was during COVID by this time. Okay, we're in the middle of COVID.
And I was not allowed to go in with her. I had to wait out in the car. But after her last thing, I was, I wasn't waiting in the car. I was at the door.
And I saw her come out from the back. And I went into there to be with her. Screw the rules. I just, this is what I'm doing.
And she got to ring the bell. And she rang the bell. And I was so damn grateful. Again.
And I went over and I planted the biggest kiss on her. And we walked out together very, very happy. Back to the oncologist. But take this pill now for five years.
And at the end of five years, we're going to test you. Well, last week, she went and had a mammogram and had all these other tests done. Today, we went back to the same oncologist. And we're sitting in the office.
And she comes in. She goes, all your numbers are good, everything. Because April will actually be the five year. At the end of April, you can stop taking the medication if you want to.
Or you can keep taking it if you want to. And, but you don't need to. Diane chose to stop taking it at that stage of the game and live her life. We came away grateful as to be.
And I know how many people, I am so aware of how many people do not have the same story to tell when it comes to breast cancer. She has a cousin who's just really going through it and not looking good. And things are really, really, really bad. But, and I know a lot of people, people that I've loved who've gone through this.
But Diane beat the damn odds. And I'm so grateful for that. Yet, I'm so sorry for those who didn't beat the odds. So, while I want to be happy, and I am, I am so damn happy, it would just blow your mind.
I also think of those people. And I'm pissed off. I'm pissed off that breast cancer has not been just solved. Okay, why has this not been just solved?
I don't want to get into all the conspiracy theories that are, you know, they make more money, you know, shut up. Okay, just shut up. Okay, but this needs to be solved. It absolutely does.
If you're feeling well, you're healthy, be grateful. If you're going to go into a challenge like this, be grateful that you live in a time when things can actually be done. When people can actually have good results. I'm so grateful that Diane did, because I don't know what I'd do without her.
I really don't. She's my champion. When I got sick in 2013, she was the one that was there every damn day taking care of the hospital and at rehab and when I came home. And we have so many fun adventures together now.
We go out and we do bebops. It's fabulous. Oh, well. More gratitude coming your way tomorrow.
Thank you. Thank you.