I was diagnosed with double breast cancer on 8/8/2012. I was shocked to say the least. 2 people I knew had monograms and I thought to myself when was the last time I had one. I did not realize I needed a referral and was ready to tell the nurses that I would reschedule. God must have been watching me that day. A week later I went to have a biopsy. The doctor told me 80% of biopsy came back negative. Who thought I would be in the 20%.
I was scheduled to see the surgeon a few days later and brought my son and niece with me. The first thing the doctor said to me was this is curable. I don't think I heard much after that. My last day of work before the surgery, all my co-workers wore pink it my honor. It brought tears to my eyes.
I had the surgery, 8 rounds of chemo and radiation. I never lost my positive attitude because of the fantastic support group I had. I took the parts in pieces, surgery first not worrying about chemo and radiation.
The chemo was next I was able to work during this time, but the 6th round of chemo really started to take its toll on me. I wore hats to work to hide my bald head and everyone said the hats had character. I had the chemo mixture changed on the 4th round and kept saying to the doctor can we go back to the 1st mixture. I needed to go back on leave again. Chemo was over and now radiation. It is 22 months later and I am cancer free! I thank God every day. I am lucky because my support group was the best. My son was with me throughout my journey. My brother picks on me again, which is great. I told myself when looking at my bald hair that I would dye my hair red again because that would mean I'm okay. That promise to myself happened in June 2014.
Meriden, CT