Gail's Recovery & Reconstruction

The holiday season of 2020 will go down in my history as that was when my world stopped with these three words - Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.

A double mastectomy was the cure and chemo and radiation were the insurance plan for my future. A number of irrational thoughts weighed me down. Can I keep my nipples... No. Will I lose my hair… Probably. Am I ready to go… HELL NO! And I began to prepare for battle.

When my chemo concluded in the summer of 2021, 99% of my hair had fallen out, an open wound that took almost a year to heal due to complications and I had a body I didn't recognize. Even with all that, I was grateful for my time to pause as I pulled myself away from society, a world that had gone crazy with a pandemic, riots, and political unrest. It was the humanity during my journey that brought me hope. One might be scared by such a journey - no one signs up for cancer with a smile! But since then I have witnessed the best of humanity -  the unsaid care, the love and grace given by family and friends, medical caregivers, and strangers.

During my pause, I could reflect on how I wanted to live the second phase of my life - my second chance. In all honesty, there were moments I found myself lost. But as Night Birdie said (google her journey), "It's all right to be lost; we're all a little lost sometimes."  But this is what I know; I will continue to do hair, but I will also pursue my first true love and passion, the thing that sets my soul on fire, the ability to express visual art through painting, drawing, and photography.

Please join me on October 21-23 when I will unveil art I have created over the past year and a half since I started this journey. My family and friends will host a silent auction of my work, other artists’ work and an array of donated items to help offset the cost of my scheduled reconstruction surgery in January 2023.

If you are not able to participate in the silent auction, please consider making a donation to my GoFundMe campaign (Go to GoFundMe.com and search for Gail Dust). Any and all contributions will be received with much gratitude.