In January 2003 I became a grandmother, I had a wonderful boyfriend and life was wonderful. In March I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer, in April I underwent a bilateral mastectomy and immediate reconstruction. The surgery took a total of 12 hours and when I awoke in my room my sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughter were all around me. The first person I noticed was my granddaughter fussing in her Daddy's arms, as he adjusted her she looked at me and became quiet. it seemed to me that she had been waiting for me to wake up. I knew then that I would do whatever I needed to do to live.
While going through the recovery, chemo and radiation treatments I didn't feel as bad as I had feared it would be. 7 years later and life is good. I have been told that I will be taking Femera for the rest of my life and see my oncologist every 6 months because I am have a high risk of a recurrance, and that is ok. I will continue to fight to survive, live, go on walks to find a cure, and click so that others can get the mammograms that they need. Hopefully a cure will be found so that my granddaughter and her friends don't have to worry about this damn disease.
For those of you that are beginning the fight, I want to let you know that there are many of us survivors out here. I have met women that have been surviving over 20 years and personally my mother-in-law has been surviving since 1994.
Sometimes we have to slow down, focus on getting well, let others support and love us. Live, Love and Laugh alot. Have that dessert first!
San Diego, CA
