As I walked into the hospital room for my biopsy in May 2013, I knew the cancer had returned with a vengeance. I thought that breast cancer was something that I dealt with 10 years ago, and I was done. My mammograms and ultra sounds always came back with good results. I just knew that I had passed the 5 year window, and I was truly a "Survivor." Cancer has been a part of my family's life for 13 years, both my mother and father battled cancer. My mother forced, I mean "encouraged" my sister and I to get mammograms after she was diagnosed in 2002. Her love saved my life.
Well, August 2011, I moved across the world from Texas to the Middle East to begin a new adventure of travel and self growth. I met and married my soul mate in November 2012, we wanted to start our family and live happily ever after. Well, Mr. Cancer decided to test our love for better or worse. My scar tissue from my lumpectomy surgery site in 2013 started getting larger. My ob/gyn doctor recommended that I get a biopsy. Since that day my life has never been the same, the diagnoses of breast cancer for the second time around has been life changing. This time around, my doctors and I agreed to be as aggressive as my Stage 3 Her2+ tumor, my treatment plan was 6 rounds of chemotherapy, 17 rounds of Herceptin, and a bilateral mastectomy. My soul mate, my man, and my rock never left my side, he said, "We didn't need the breast anyway!" I am currently finished with my treatments, but I live a much healthier lifestyle. The old me focused on what I looked like on the outside, but the new me values what I put on the inside. I am so grateful to wake up each day and celebrate life.
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
