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Hats off to Self-Exams!

I want to start off by telling anyone reading this to do their monthly self-exams. Please tell your Sisters, Daughters, Mom, Cousins, Aunts and friends. This is such an important thing that takes almost no time!
By doing this at around the same time every month, you will become very familiar with the way your breasts feel and you will be able to tell when something isn't right.
I had just turned 49 in December 2008 when, while performing my Breast Self-Exam, I found THE LUMP! It wasn't very large, but it quickly overtook every waking moment. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in January of 2009. I had a double mastectomy with re-constructive surgery and I've also had chemotherapy. Now, almost a year later, my doctor says that I am Cancer-Free! It was a very scary journey but I knew I would not be traveling the road alone. I had wonderful support from my family, friends and co-workers. I don't think I would have come through with so much optimism if it hadn't been for their prayers and my own Faith. PLEASE remind all of the women in your life to perform their self-exams.

Benita
San Antonio, TX

Dreams Deferred

For more than 30 years, I had dreamed of living in China. In April, 2006 my husband, youngest daughter and I were just a couple of months away from fulfilling that dream, but a routine mammogram revealed a small lump in my left breast. It turned out to be cancerous, so I had surgery in May, 2006 to remove the lump, as well as some lymph nodes that also had traces of cancer. June through August were spent in chemotherapy, and I had radiation therapy September through November.

We left for China in January of 2007 and I'm still living here. That dream of living in China, along with God's sweet presence and the support of my family and friends, carried me through those months. I had something to live for and I wasn't going to let breast cancer stop me!

Anonymous
Chengdu, China

My Daughter, My Hero!

Because of a gyn doctor who cares for his patients, my daughter, Mindy had a baseline mammography at 35--at 37,in August of 2008, Dr. Turner sent her again-and she had breast cancer-she had felt no lumps, had no unusual symtoms, but it was there, and was in her lymph nodes--
An aggressive chemo treatment for 6 months, then a double mastectomy, now, almost one year from the surgery date, she is undergoing reconstruction, and is, so far , CANCER FREE--
Mindy has three sons, 18 year old Kody, 10 year old Lucas and 5 year old Brooks--Brooks is a survivor of open heart surgery at 7 days old--
She leads a challenging life on any given day, but she has met and defeated every challenge being a victim of cancer has dished up. Life is still hard, reconstruction is NOT painless, and the side and after effects of chemo ( menopause, emotional roller coaster, etc) still take their toll.
But she is and always has been a fighter.
Mindy is blessed with a good husband, two awesome caregiver sisters, a large loving family, a comforting loving church family, and many friends and co-workers, who provided meals every single day from Chemo Treatment #1 right through the surgery--that's 6 months!
Whoever thinks that putting off mannograms until after 50 is the right thing to do, need to walk a few miles in the shoes of the young women who have been through this or may be currently going through it.
We are blessed and we know it--we continue to pray for a cure!
May God give strength, faith, courage and endurance to all !

Judy Rouse
Braselton, GA

i will be a survivor

on thur 26th nov 09 at the age of 40 i was diagnosed with breast cancer... it had already spread into the lymph glands in my armpit ... i had surgery on 7th dec 09 to remove part of my breast and all of the glands in my armpit ... its obviously early days as surgery was only 3 days ago ... my world has turned upside down... i have had so much support from my 2 beautiful daughters and my loving friends and family ... i get my results from the surgery on 23rd dec 09 ... i am praying this will be the best news for the best xmas ever... i have no choice to the radiotherapy that will follow ... probably chemo too to give me the best care and treatment x

donna
newcastle upon tyne, United Kingdom

Knowing my own body

Eleven years ago my friend, Linda, was on her way to the hospital for surgery. Before leaving she saw me out front and told me of a dream she'd had the night before where I had breast cancer. My friend passed away later that day. During the next few days I couldn't get her dream out of my mind. While dressing for her furneral I decided to do a self exam. I found a small lump in my right breast about the size of a pea. And I noticed that the skin felt different on either side of the lump. I made an appointment for my doctor to see me three weeks away. Days before the set appointment, I did another exam finding the lump was infact larger. The mammogram confirmed the mass and surgery was to be the next day. I remember waking with the hospital staff standing near me congratulating me. Although they said the mass was not cancer I didn't believe them and I would choose to wait for a second test to confirm. The results came back two weeks later. The mass did not contain cancer, however the area around the mass did. The doctors informed me as I was going into surgery that because I had done the self exam and acted on my findings, I would be able to one day call myself a survivor. I thank Linda for seeking me out that day. I now know how important self exams really are. The earlier cancer is detected the better chance you have of calling yourself a survivor.

Wendey Jensen
Olivehurst, CA

I'm a survivor

Hi,
my name is Edinir and I have been a breast cancer survivor since 2006. I'm brazilian and a mother of 2 girls.
At the time that I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my life turned up-side down and i had to look for ways to be strong and convince my daughters that i was OK, but it was extremely tough at times. Today, it is not only me that helps people who is going through what I experienced, but my daughters also always have words of strength to all my friends who are diagnosed with breast cancer...
Our group now has about 25 breast cancer survivors and we are proud to say that there is always hope and a cure ... and, most importantly,there is GOD to guide and bless us ....

Thank you and good luck to all of you! Be strong!

Edinir
Mallden, MA

"It is Breast Cancer"

The very first words I heard from my surgeon was..you have Abnormal Cells.."Pre-Cancerious Cells" but not Cancer! Next step was to have a lumpectomy to remove the pre-cancerious cells and test them again just as a pre-caution. Why was I not happy to hear that the cells were not cancer? Something inside me still remained very uneasy about the words pre-cancerious. To me that still meant there was a chance that they would find cancer while in surgery. Surgery day came and went...then came the wait to find out whether or not I had cancer. The report was in and they suspect that the cells are indeed cancer but they need a more expert opinion so they send the biopsy to the Mayo Clinic. I think to myself that there is no better place to make that decision but for me that meant more waiting and by this time I am terrified of the outcome. Five days past the results are in. The surgoen in a very calm polite voice says...'I'm sorry Mrs. Cheek but the Mayo Clinic feels that the cells are Cancer." The surgeon immedicately says in a friendly voice, but they feel that we have caught it very early and it is treatable. I felt as thought my heart was in my throat. I was so scarred! My surgeon then said don't worry with treatment and prayer you will be just fine. All of a sudden when people started to find out that I had Breast Cancer I begin to hear from people I knew that had also had Breast Cancer and they gave me alot of support and I in return shared my story with others to get the word out about how important it is to get mammograms for early detection!! Patricia Cheek, Clayton NC

Patricia Cheek
Clayton, NC

Battling bone cancer put a new focus on friendship!

The doctor's words were calm: "The sample of bone and tissue removed from your leg is malignant; the bone biopsy came back positive. You have cancer." Even though I had tried to prepare myself mentally for the possibility of bad news, there was no damming the flood of emotions: shock, disbelief and fear. I recall the start of 11 months of daily chemotherapy and radiation treatments, the nurse inserting an IV needle into each arm, telling me that the doctor would soon surgically implant a Port-a-Cath into my chest. Through those months of chemotherapy, at times I was sicker than I ever thought possible without dying. Most days I was too ill to get out of bed to stretch my legs or take a walk down the hall. I lost my appetite and was down to 85lbs. One of the worst side effects were the mouth sores. I needed heavy painkillers just to be able to talk and swallow. Scariest thing for me was when my blood cell count dropped to a severe low, making my immune system extremely weak which left me susceptible to catching anything. My lowest point came during my last round of chemo. I contemplated whether it was worth going through all this. I felt like just unplugging the IV and giving up. As I entered the maintenance phase of my treatment (daily chemo pills for two years) another deep, dark depression set in. Praise God, I'm now in remission. They say that five years cancer-free is a big deal, so I'm blessed to be past that marker. From the moment we heard the news, my family and friends stuck by me, regardless of how I looked, felt or acted. I wonder how people make it without family and friends. They're the true survivors.

Laura Farago
Stockton, CA

Three Generations of Love

"I'm sorry, I made a mistake. There is cancer," was the numbing news that came over the phone from my first doctor. My husband and I had just gotten home from our doctor's office where we were told the biopsy came back fine and he would see me in three months for a follow-up visit. Now a phone call..."A mistake?" I thought. It had to be a mistake...I had just turned 38...there was no history of any kind of cancer in my family...now what? As the doctor's voice turned into the Charlie Brown teacher voice (waa, waa,) my head was reeling and my husband's look of confusion were all I could remember. "No. You are not doing surgery on Wednesday. I am getting another opinion. You made one mistake, there won't be a second." And I hung up the phone. This was the beginning of my cancer journey. Through two surgeries, chemo, and radiation the support from my friends, family, coworkers, and students was completely overwhelming. But my main support came from my family. My thirteen year old daughter, my mother, and my 80 year old grandmother were always by my side. Cleaning the house, doing the laundry, cooking meals, taking kids to school and ball practices and making sure I could just sleep. It was hard, because I was use to being the one to take care of everyone else, but cancer has a way of making you slow down and put things into perspective. I feel very blessed to have these women in my life. We have always been close, but now we are inseparable. A breast cancer diagnosis is life changing, but it is up to you whether or not it is a positive or negative change. I chose POSITIVE!

Jill Kasler
Millfield, OH

Hope Today and Tommorow

My journey began about about 20 years ago when my sister that is close to me in age was first diagnosed with breast cancer, then about 4 years later, our Mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and then me in 1999 and again in 2007. Even though our Mother lost her battle to breast cancer going into the bone about 6 years ago, my sister is still dealing with her 4th bout of breast cancer. I have hope today and tomorrow because I was blessed to participate in a breast cancer study a few years before I was diagnosed with breast cancer which gave me resources to turn to when I needed it and also to help others that I have met along the way in their journey, yes, you can say our family have a history of breast cancer and because of my outgoing personality to get information, I have gotten this information to share with other family members near and far - at reunions, family gathering, celebrations to help them learn their family history and may be a preventive measure in their lives. So, there is hope for today as we are breathing and for tomorrow for those that may still be here.

Linda
Toledo, OH