TEXARKANA MAGAZINE
“‘Are ya gonna make it?’ she asked the rabbit in her mind. ‘Ya gonna make it?’ she repeated. ‘Are ya gonna make it?’ And the rabbit answered, ‘Well, I got to.’” “I’ve got to.” “I’ve got to.” Laurie Galloway repeated this command… this plea… this prayer for over a year. The attack came from a word we have all grown accustomed to, a word sour in our mouths that mixes with fear and dread: cancer. By this point, we all know too many people with this diagnosis. And some of us, if we are honest, have become desensitized to the stories. But every single cancer story is unique and valuable. We must abstain from the tendency to lean away; instead, we must lean in and glean from the lessons of this war against cancer. Many people ask why there are not miracles today like in biblical times. The answer is simple: miracles abound daily; we just have to open our eyes and see them. When Laurie Galloway’s journey began in July 2022, a simple mention of fatigue set off a chain of events. Though initial fears of lupus faded as lab work normalized, a new concern emerged weeks later: a lump in her left breast. For nearly two years, Laurie was told everything was normal, including mammograms and ultrasounds. Doctors reassured her with standard phrases of “dense breast tissue” and “a simple cyst,” and every appointment ended with, “You’re fine.” But Laurie didn’t feel fine. A quiet inner voice urged her to advocate for herself, not settling for assurance that didn’t feel right. Listening to that persistent voice, Laurie sought care at a specialty clinic out of town. An MRI revealed a “non-mass enhancement” in her left breast. Though a subsequent biopsy returned non-cancerous—describing the tissue as “atypical, uncommon, and complex”—something in her wouldn’t settle. It was that quiet voice again. She remembers telling her husband, “If something is being described as ‘uncommon and complex,’ I want one more set of eyes on it. I want to go to MD Anderson.” When Laurie scheduled her appointment at MD Anderson’s Undiagnosed Breast Clinic, the care team immediately went to work behind the scenes. Long before her arrival, they had gathered every prior scan and medical
THE SCARS NO ONE SEES BY STACIE DENNARD
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LIFE & STYLE
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