On October 4, 2021, our lives changed forever. My wife had a well overdue mammogram a couple of months earlier that was inconclusive, so a biopsy was scheduled and completed on her breast.
Approximately 7-10 days later, after not hearing from the facility in Murrieta, Kathy went there in person to pick up the reports. She began to walk out of the facility, with her report sealed in the manila envelope, when the nurse stopped her and informed Kathy that she needed to wait for the CD to finish copying the images. “I’m good,” Kathy replied, “I will just take the report by itself.” “I think your doctor will want to see the images that go with your report,” the nurse replied. Kathy was very nervous after hearing that, and she decided to wait until she got back to our office to open the report with me.
I’m happy that she did, because after reading the first paragraph of the report, it was confirmed that she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
Kathy immediately broke down and cried, we embraced, and I said that everything would be okay (I was scared and nervous too). Our first call was to our daughter, who was in the latter stages of nursing school at the time. I made the second call to our good friend Kim, who is the Director of Michelle’s Place Cancer Resource Center in our hometown of Temecula. Kim had us come in and see her immediately and helped us facilitate the right people to talk to, and the steps to take. We ended up choosing a General Surgeon and Plastic Surgeon out of Scripps La Jolla, and Kathy had surgery a month later at Scripps Green Hospital. A double mastectomy was performed in November and approximately 9-10 months later she had reconstruction surgery; both surgeries were long, but the reconstruction was over 12 hours long.
Approximately two weeks following Kathy’s reconstruction surgery, I was diagnosed with Melanoma Skin Cancer, and the same General Surgeon who took care of my wife removed the tumor out of the middle of my back. Fast-forward to 2025, and Kathy and I are both Cancer Free and doing well.
So, why am I sharing this with everyone in a Valley Business Journal article? Well, sometimes we need to unplug and recharge! My wife and I made a pact towards the end of 2022, following my Melanoma scare and her second major surgery, that we were going to go on a major vacation every two years. We went to Sicily/Italy with her parents in May of 2023 and met many of Kathy’s family members in Sicily. Kathy’s dad came to the States when he was eleven years old, so it was great to go there with him and share the many memories he had growing up. It’s two years later and we will be headed to South Africa with good friends in late March for two weeks; in fact, this article will go to press while we’re still there.
Owning a business has its peaks and valleys. Most business owners have been on a roller coaster ride at one time or another. Kathy and I have been in the insurance industry for nearly 38 years, and over 34 years as insurance agency owners. Everyone in California knows that the past few years have been a big challenge in the insurance industry. Auto, Home, and Business Insurance has been hit pretty hard in the Golden State, with rate increases, non-renewals, and companies leaving our state altogether. We are not only business owners, but we’re also consumers who are feeling the challenges that our customers feel each day. The recharge is most definitely needed, as we’re not getting any younger, that’s for sure.
The Craig Davis Family Insurance Agency has been proud to be serving customers in the Temecula Valley since 1990. Please feel free to reach out to us for All of Your Insurance Needs. We can be reached at 951-699-1776 or visit our website at craigdavisfamilyinsurance.com.
