Being a Financial Planner, I love a good strategy. The more clearly defined steps and outcomes, the better. A plan organizes and simplifies. And that’s a big help in life, because life does not always follow a defined path – a fact that was made abundantly clear to me last December.

That’s when, immediately following a routine annual check up and mammogram, I received a notification that I required further screening for breast cancer. My heart sank. But I was back at the clinic the very same day for more imaging and a biopsy. It was all moving so fast; I’d never planned for this. And just three days later, my doctor, who is also a friend, told me the words you never want to hear: I had cancer. Immediately my mind recalled instances when my dad told me about my mother’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis and more recently sitting with my sister when she learned of her breast cancer.

Sadly, I knew the next steps: Countless meetings with oncologists and surgeons to determine a treatment path. Some of them seemed to speak a foreign language as they explained the options and outcomes, while some (thank goodness) spoke very simply as my husband, sister and I attempted to divine the best plan. From the evidence, it was a clear choice for me to have a double mastectomy. That path meant I could avoid chemo and radiation, providing that surgery revealed the cancer had not spread. I knew from watching my mother and sister, I wanted to avoid those treatments if possible. Yet I was also comforted that I’d seen people survive and even maintain relatively normal lives during these treatments. It wasn’t going to be easy, but experience showed me it could be done, no matter the test results.

In January, we started my last day before surgery at church – a great way to be uplifted in times of worry. After that, we went on a hike, which kept my nerves at bay and got me outside with nature – something I’ve always loved. The surgery itself went well, and we moved on to recovery and the agonizing wait to discover if the cancer had, indeed, spread. A few days later, we got the news we had prayed for: The cancer had not spread, and surgery removed it all! This was confirmed by multiple follow-up visits, each more encouraging than the last.

Life definitely threw this planner a curveball but looking back on the last year provided perspective on what’s important: Family and friends – relationships. We say all the time in our planning meetings with clients: We can change your plan no matter what life throws at you. If nothing else, the last year proved that to me.