It started when I was born. I was early and not quite baked. I was born with Infant Respiratory Distress Syndrome,  which was known as Hyaline Membrane Disease at the time. My lungs did not work properly. Back then, they didn’t know how to treat it because they didn’t understand the cause. But I made it. Yes, I have residual respiratory issues, but they have been minimal.

In 2012, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. We were back to the thorax, the trouble-maker.  I didn’t really make the connection, at the time, about this coincidence of location.

Five years later, exactly three months ago, I had a heart attack! Eight days later, I had another.

There’s a colloquial rule of thumb in research. Two data points can suggest a trend. Three can reveal a pattern.

Well, I’ve had four thoracic events. “Thorax” is a funny word. However, it is a very important part of the body and when it’s dysfunctional, it’s not cute or funny, at all. Like Dr. Suess’ Lorax, my thorax has a funny name but an important message, “I am the thorax, I speak for disease!”

Horrible word play, I know. I may or may not have, contrived a way to work it into this post. It’s hard to say. What I will say is that my thorax has been an intermittent trouble-maker. I will also say that I started this blog with a word-play filled title, with a serious theme of identity. “My eyes are up here.” My disease is not the sum of my life. My diseases are not the sum of my life.

I’ve been blogging for five years now. I blog about my life. I blogged a lot about breast cancer. As I blogged less about breast cancer, I was fine with that. When SCAD entered into my life, I had a brief concern that my diseases were competing for limelight in my blog. What is this blog?

My heart is pumping. My lungs expand and contract as I breathe. I have surgical scars but no known cancer. Thorax, you don’t speak for disease. You speak for life, my life, with all of its parts.

My eyes are still up here.