I was born in October 1957. Six months later, my mother died of "the big C". My sister and I never knew what kind of cancer she'd had. It was a taboo discussion.
In 1998, my sister was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer after finding a lump that originally was dismissed by her gynecologist as probable cystic breasts due to caffeine consumption! That was the first time we heard that our mother died from breast cancer. In 1957 treatment was a double mastectomy and radiation, neither of which stopped the spread of her cancer. She was only 26 years old when she died. My sister 's treatment was a lumpectomy followed by aggressive chemotherapy and radiation. She participated in the trials that led to Sentinal Node Biopsy but more important,she survived.
I went for a routine mammography in May 2003, as I had done every year. I never felt a lump and felt perfectly fine. I was sent for a sonogram and then to the breast surgeon. The tumor was not even palpable to the physicians but the lumpectomy confirmed the cancer. The edges were not defined and I had additional surgery to remove more tissue. It was an aggressive form of cancer. I began chemotherapy by the 4th of July and completed radiation by Halloween. I was fatigued, had occasional nausea and lost all my hair, but I'm here today, cancer free, writing to remind all women that a mammogram could save your life as it did mine. A year and a half later, I danced at my son's wedding.
My sister and I are very grateful to the team at Stony Brook's Carol Baldwin Breast Center. And I am blessed to be alive to enjoy my grandchildren, thanks to a routine mammography.
Smith Point, NY
