The Big C

I received a shocking e-mail from one cousin forwarded from her sister:

"Dear Family,
I thought I should write to you all and let you know exactly what is happening with me. Hopefully this will alleviate some miscommunication.

I have been diagnosed with a high grade ductile carcinoma in situ. This means I have cancer in a milk duct in my right breast. The cancer is contained inside of a duct (in situ) which is a very good thing! It is a high grade cancer because the cells are multiplying very quickly, which is not so good. Next week I will go to Scottsdale and meet with a surgical oncologist and a plastic surgeon. I will have to have a mastectomy sometime in the near future. However, the plastic surgeon will do reconstruction at the same time. I am praying that they will go ahead and do a double mastectomy because they did find 3 microcalcium deposits on the left side. Apparently, these very likely can turn into cancer. Also, the reoccurrence rate is very high. So, we are praying that they will do a double mastectomy so we don't have to mess with this again in the near future.

Jason and I are feeling very optimistic. We have the Lord on our side and 4 beautiful children to live for. Life can always be worse than it is. We thank God that the children are healthy and the cancer hasn't spread. I will keep you all posted as I learn more. We would appreciate your prayers! And ladies, please make sure you let your gynecologists know that there is breast cancer now in the family. They will need to do thorough breast exams at your yearly check ups. "

She's obviously a lot more optimistin than I would be. It seems to me she blasts out the horrible news and then follows up with Jesus talk like one cancels out the other.
I'll have to make up my mind if I want to send her flowers or make a donation to the American Cancer Society in her name. Perhaps both. That is a very scary position.