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Diagnosis

by Karen Jandorf

i have cancer. breast 
cancer. my right 
breast. 
i had a feeling it was 
cancer. 
a sick, 
sinking 
feeling. 
my head is whirling. 
i feel numb. 
and sick. 
and tired. 
will you have a lumpectomy 
with radiation and chemo? 
or a mastectomy and chemo? 
will you have a single or a double? 

ma'am? 

would you like fries with that?

Karen's poetry has appeared in Sharon Bray's books, A Healing Journey: Writing Through Breast Cancer and When Words Heal, and in CURE Magazine. She leads an expressive writing group at the Community Breast Health Project in Palo Alto, CA.