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Divorce....and My Cancer

I had been with my husband for over 22 yrs. He had left mid October 2010. Monday December 6th 2010 I went for a mammogram. I had been to the doctor and had blood work, I even went to the ER. After the mammogram the tech walked out of the room. When she came back she said we are calling your doctor because we need to do an Ultrasound. I out my hand over my left breast. I knew it. I had felt it and I knew it. After the ultrasound they said you need a needle biopsy NOW.In that cold room I started texting my ex and friends. He wrote back Sorry to hear that. I was in the middle of packing up my house to move and now I know I have cancer. The doctor came in to do my biopsy. Tears started to roll down my face I am getting a divorce and losing my insurance. She told me "Lisa, You have Cancer and have had it for a long time!" She said you need to see our surgeon in the morning, I was at the surgeons office the next morning at 9am. December 22nd I was starting Chemo. My friends were over packing up my house. My friends made meal nights. A man I had seen but didn't know said he wanted to date me! He was so incredibly handsome! I told him he must be crazy as I was going through a divorce. I had Cancer and was about to lose my breast. He said he could help and that he did. About 50 or more people showed up to move the boys and i. As I fell asleep sick on the couch they unpacked my home. That man made me drink Gatorade,he looked up every single symptom I had and tried to find a solution for it. I had radiation and 6 reconstruction surgeries. I also had a 7th surgery to get my ovaries removed. God is good and Cancer SAVED my life. Cancer made me take care of ME and not my ex.

Lisa Adams
St. Peters, MO

I am a survivor

On April 23 2013 I found out I had breast cancer went to have my first mammogram and cancer was there.on June 27th 2013 had had both removed on June 27 2014 I am cancer free. I am a survivor!

faith gordon
Calumet city, IL

Lobular Breast Cancer

When I turned 40, I began having annual breast mammograms. I always got the form letter that stated it was normal. They reminded me to continue to do self exams between mammograms.
I had another normal mammogram in November 2013. In April 2014, I felt an unusual mass in my right breast. I saw my OB right away and she referred me to the breast center. They took many more pictures and my films looked unchanged since November. An ultrasound and biopsy found irregular, shadowy cells. Those cells turned out to be Lobular Breast Cancer. Nobody ever told me that Lobular Breast Cancer will not be detected with a mammogram. I always had a sense of security that I was "ok" when I got the good news in a form letter. I was NEVER told that lobular breast cancer will only be detected with an MRI. I have since had a double mastectomy with reconstruction and am waiting to see my oncologist about whether I will need chemo. If I can help one person or save one life, I will continue to tell every woman I meet to check yourself. Lobular cancer is very sneaky. It snuck up on me, but I am currently kicking it's ass. 💖

April Hanson
Blaine, MN

Became a Family trait

A little background. My sister Cindi was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer in 2007, until then no one in the family ever had Breast Cancer. She passed 29 Sep 11. Still not recovering from that loss, my daughter called me up on 26 Jan 2012 and had been diagnosed with Breast Cancer, I was devastate as she was, she told me to get a mammogram now. I had an appointment the next week already. On 24 Feb 12, I was told I also had cancer. By this time I am in shock. My first thought is "I can't go to Texas to take care of my daughter!" For me that was the hardest part. My daughter had a double Mastectomy and Chemo. I had a lumpectomy and radiation. She had a support group called The Pink Cowgirls to support her and her Father and Step Mother also The Breast Cancer Resource Center (BCRC) in Austin Texas. We now have 2 years cancer free. I finally got to be reunited with my daughter this Jun 14, to see for myself she was ok. We also attended the Austin Art Bra Auction, where she was one of the models.

Lori Dinesen
Lancaster, CA

In the last 6 months

2 weeks b4 for Christmas last year i was severely anemic and had to have 2 lots of blood trans versions and 2 lots of iron as a top up it nerely killed me now 3 weeks ago my right breast didn't lolol right so i went to my gp and had a mammogram and ultra sound doña and lump was found i had to get a biopsy done and found out i have breast cancer so i went to get a bone narrow and ECG to check if the cancer hadn't spread it came back good now I'm waiting for the op in 2 weeks and im having kemo and radio therapy i have a 11 year old son he's scared that i may not beat this its my 2nd life il beat it i no i will its just not fair 2 life threatening has happen in the last 6 months im worried after all this is over i may have a hart attack or a tuma on the brain next :-(

Sharon
Margate, Australia

A blessing in disguise

My mother has always been the type of person who avoided going to the doctor at all cost regardless of how sick she got. She's your average uninsured American. One day while at work she was wiping down all the stainless steel appliances and with one swipe of a wall she cut her finger open from one side of the thumb to the other. She had no choice but to go to the ER. They stitched her up and sent her on her way. The hospital she went to has a program for uninsured people so she took advantage of that and applied. She honestly didn't think she would qualify but thank God she did. Now as I previously stated before she avoided seeing a doctor at all cost. My mom figured since she hadn't had a physical since 1988 she would go in for a full checkup. It was a routine checkup (blood, urine and pap smear) When they asked for her family medical history she told them her mother(my grandmother) had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 50 so they naturally sent her in for a mammogram since she also hadn't had one. A month later she received a letter asking her to come in to talk with the doctor. She was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. She had the cancer removed from her breast, did radiation treatment and also took chemo pills. So I call this a Blessing in Disguise because had she not cut her thumb open she would've have seen a doctor and they wouldn't have found her cancer and Lord only knows what would have happened. God is Good.

Anonymous
Corpus Christi, TX

my strength are my children

My name is Cathy I'm 49 2013 was my worst year I lost my sister to lung cancer three days later I lost my little brother he had a heart attack this was in January then in June I went for a routine mammogram a few days later I received a letter letting me know something showed up and I needed to return for more test the waiting was the worst I thought at the time but I kept thinking this will be fine god never gives us more then we can handle I did the biobisy and waited with my daughters by my side the Dr told me I had cancer I couldn't believe it but this is where my journey begins telling my children was so hard seeing the pain in their faces then my grandkids I hated telling them I saw my Dr and decided to have a double breast removal the day of my surgery is a blur I remember waking up with all my children around me and feeling so blessed my children were always by my side doing whatever I needed my wonderful daughter in law would come over everyday after work to clean and change my bandages I'm so thankful for that but I didn't feel good about myself I thought at my age losing my breast didn't matter but it did so I decided to have reconstruction surgery it has been a long journey I have had 8 surgeries in less then a year and I still have 3 more I have alot of scars my Dr says he might be able to fix some of them but I feel like they are apart of my journey and I can live with them I had a scare this month I found a lump once again something showed up but this time the Dr said she believes it's not cancer so I get rechecked in December I will win this battle I'm so blessed to have my children and family my children are my strength

Cathy Peavler
Joplin, MO

A Dream of Faith & Hope

In November 2013, I started having sharp, quick pains in my right breast. Since I had nurses in my family, I decided to give them a call and inquire about it. I was told that it was probably occurring because I was drinking too much caffeine. It should not be anything that I should be alarmed about because if it was cancer, it would not hurt. After taking the advice and eliminating as much caffeine as I thought I could, the pains were still present. During December or January, I had an alarming dream that revealed that I had Stage 2 Breast Cancer. After waking up and rebuking the dream, I decided to go get tested. When I went to the doctor, he also told me that if I was having pains that it was nothing to be alarmed about and I should be fine. After examining, he did not feel anything and began again to reassure me that everything was fine. After insisting, he wrote up an order for a Diagnostic Mammogram because I was only 39 years old. On March 7, 2014, I was diagnosed with Triple Negative Breast Cancer and the tumor was approx 2.5 cm in size. On March 27, I had elected to have a lumpectomy with the removal of two nodes to be tested. The great news is that the cancer had not metastasis and was just in that localized area. I have had four rounds of chemo and now awaiting radiation treatment. During this very trying time in my life, my family has always been there. I was able to see my oldest child graduate and am gonna be able to raise my two youngest children all because of a dream and me being persistent. DEFEAT is and was NEVER option. Keep FIGHTING the Good FIGHT! And keep The Faith!!!

Toya Matthews
Memphis, TN

Diagnosis & Standard of care (her2+, multicentric breast cancer)

I am 50 yrs old with 2 middle school children. I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma on May 16, 2014. Initially 4 tumors were found at mammo/sonogram/biopsy. After an MRI they found a total of 7 tumors - each tumor is 1.5cm or less (very small-thank God) - all tumors are on 1 breast. This type cancer is also called multicentric breast cancer and apparently it is challenging for Doctors to stage. Some Dr's measure the largest tumor and give you a stage and others combine all the tumors and stage you that way. My Dr chose not to stage me. Stage 1 if she measures the largest tumor, Stage 3 if she measures together. I am also HER2 positive which means it can spread rather quickly. I am trying a new approach - new standard of care that allows you to start chemotherapy before surgery AND I am also trying a very new drug that was released in Oct 2013 called Perjeta - it specifically targets HER2 positive breast cancer. My chemo drugs are taxatere, herceptin and perjeta, I will have four 21 day cycles, then double mastectomy, after surgery I will have three -21 day cycles of FEC and Herceptin, then Herceptin alone to end a year of chemo. . I'm sharing my diagnosis and standard of care with you because multicentric breast cancer is not to common and this is a very new concept for someone with small tumors and Her2 positive. My Dr had to answer 10 billion questions from me because I was hesitant to try a new drug and to do chemo first before surgery. My Dr is great & her area of expertise is Breast Cancer. So far I have had 2 chemo treatments, I feel strong, confident and ready to fight this. God Bless all of you who are fighting this disease. Stay strong.

Nellie Nunez
San Antonio, TX

Comes in Threes

Well my story begins on a sad note twice I lost two of my cousins to cancer. The first one in march of 2010. He name was Andrea. She was my age. She died of brain cancer. 2 months later my cousin Jackie died of pancreatic cancer. To put the topper on the cake of this all I was diagnosed with Breast cancer in June just one month after my cousin Jackie's death. My thoughts were is this family strong enough to deal with another blow by cancer's hand? To my surprise yes they were! Everyone rallied around me and gave me their support and prayers. But to me personally this was my battle. I had to prove to myself that I could beat this on my own! So I sought treatment in Philadelphia. I thought with going down there no one would want to go. Boy was I wrong. Then I explained to them this was something I had to do on my own. If I needed them I knew they would be here for me. I was talking with my dad the night before my appointment and he said "you know Tracy Jane you really don't need them" . I told him they could take them as far as I'm concerned and my dad said "and why is that?" then I replied I could get a set of my choosing! He started to laugh. My mom was like Tracy Jane that's not funny in a scolding voice. I was like if I don't have some kind of humor during this I'm going to lose it and that's not what i want. I needed to stay strong for my children and grandchildren . I went through my treatments. Had a lumpectomy. I am cancer free 2 years now!

TRACY Harrison
pottsville, PA