Pat Riviere-Seel had run three marathons, countless half-marathons, ate lots of fruits and vegetables, was the walking picture of health.
“I was one of those people who weren’t supposed to get breast cancer,” said Riviere-Seel, who had worked as a reporter and lobbyist before turning her full attention to poetry writing in recent years.
“I do everything right. I eat healthy, I’m a runner, I take care of myself, my weight is very good. Sometimes besides all your best efforts, these things happen.”
What happened was during Riviere-Seel’s annual physical exam in January, her doctor found a lump in her left breast. A biopsy determined it was breast cancer. A subsequent breast MRI found another lump in her right breast, which was benign.
“I decided to get rid of both breasts,” Riviere-Seel said. “I thought, this is ridiculous. I can’t live the rest of my life worrying if this cancer will come back.”
She had the double mastectomy on March 9.
“I know it sounds crazy, but I was fully relaxed. I knew whatever happened would be OK.”
Riviere-Seel credits the love and support of her husband, Ed Seel, and her faith, with getting her through the ordeal. She had breast reconstruction surgery earlier this summer and said today she is cancer-free.
Riviere-Seel, the author of “The Serial Killer’s Daughter” and “No Turning Back Now,” and is Associate Editor of Asheville Poetry Review, said she has already started to weave her experience with breast cancer into her poetry.
“It has renewed my faith. It gave me an increased appreciation for every single day I have,” she said. “It’s brought me back to my Christian roots in a way that I’ve gotten away from. I have a new appreciation of friends and poets and writers. I think cancer will change me in ways that I’m still discovering.”
(source:citizen-times.com)
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