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THEY’RE HERS AND SHE KEPT THEM

November 21, 2014 by

SAM_0009Laura Ross-Paul launched a book in downtown Portland last night, not just any book.

In an event at the Froelick Gallery she read a passage from “THEY’RE MINE AND I’M KEEPING THEM, How freezing my breast saved my breast.”

This was a woman in victory after the hard work of fighting breast cancer. It was a joy.

The magic grew when Lori introduced her kids and the crucial people on her journey.

Alex Paul stood beside her.

The words she spoke of him are the words every husband ought to hear. Words of love, words of thanks, words of support.

Together, along with Dr. Peter Littrup M.D., they authored a story of searching beyond regular breast cancer treatment.

Instead of submitting to standard procedure, the Pauls found an alternative.

Cryoablation.

From wiki: The most common application of cryoablation is to ablate solid tumors found in the lung, liver, breast, kidney and prostate. The use in prostate and renal cryoablation are the most common. Although sometimes applied through laparoscopic or open surgical approaches, most often cryoablation is performed percutaneously (through the skin and into the target tissue containing the tumor) by a medical specialist, such as an interventional radiologist.

For all who live life to the fullest, Lori’s on the short list.

A renowned artist and teacher, mother and wife, she’s the sort of person who gets better and better.

You’ve probably met those people and wanted to know the secret.

Part of aging is knowing when enough is enough. If what you did at thirty breaks you down at sixty, you can stop without shame. You’ve done enough.

That’s not who I saw last night.

The Froelick was full of people who don’t get enough of life, Portland baby boomers who thrive and explore. Adventurers.

Laura Ross-Paul led the greatest adventure at her reading.

She stood up on a cold dark night giving hope and direction.

Too many confront breast cancer with limited treatment choices. The future looks colder and darker no matter the decision.

They’re Mine And I’m Keeping Them shows another way.

“I’m glad to finish this and get back to being an artist,” she said. “Writing is hard.”

Making hard things look easy is her style and she shared it with the city.

Lift up a loved one facing breast cancer. Share Lori’s story with them.

 

 

 

 

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About David Gillaspie

I am a writer. This is my blog story day by day.

Comments

  1. Mark says
    November 21, 2014 at 1:01 pm

    Good story Dave

    • David Gillaspie says
      November 22, 2014 at 7:56 am

      As we move along the timeline we see someone one day and not the next, or any day after, and it seems normal because that’s how it is.

      Seeing Lori and the group at the book launch is a reminder that what seems normal, like traditional breast cancer treatment, is not ‘how it is’ for everybody.

      Cryoablation needs a bigger place at the treatment table. What do you think?

  2. Sher Davidson says
    November 23, 2014 at 5:16 pm

    Your article moved me and I felt almost as good as if I had been able to be there in person, supporting Lori. I have admired her art, her life’s work and her, as a person, mother, professional artist and now writer for many years since I first interviewed her, at that time a nursing mother sitting in her studio, for my art history thesis at PSU while a student there.

    She’s inspired me to become a painter, too, and then I became a writer as well. My message is about immigration, hers is about something so very important for women everywhere, and gives us courage in the face of tone of the most daunting diagnosis, breast cancer.

    • David Gillaspie says
      November 24, 2014 at 11:25 am

      Hello Sher,

      Many thanks for your generous comment. I have a feeling Lori has a hoard of fans she’s influenced. She opens up so many parts of life for others to see and take note of. For all that I gotta tell ya, she really likes her man Alex.

      Too often women as accomplished as Lori end up going it alone for one reason or another. Being a fan of wedding vows and sticking to them, hearing her talk about Alex was sweet music. Just a couple of love birds whistling along together.