Over 11 years ago, I found a lump while doing my self exam. The day of the biopsy, my surgeon came out of the operating room and told my husband that everything looked great and that the frozen section tissue sample was benign. Imagine our shock and surprise — and the surgeon’s, as well — when he called me at work eight days later to tell me that the final pathology report was in and that he was sorry to tell me that I did indeed have breast cancer. I was 35. There wasn’t a lot of time for consideration, and the hardest part of the entire ordeal was thinking about the impact this would have on my two small children. Ben was 7 and Catie was only 4.
So we sat them down on our bed and I said: You know how you had a really bad sore throat and the doctor said you had strep throat? And we talk about washing our hands to get rid of the germs so we don’t get sick as easily? Well Mommy has some cells that are kind of like germs in my body. They call them “cancer cells” and I’m going to have to take some nasty medicine called “chemo” to try and get rid of them. It’s not good-tasting like the bubble gum medicine you had to take when you had strep! And guess what? It’s going to make my hair fall out! So Mommy’s going to be bald — but I’ll still be the same Mommy.”
I’ve promised my husband and children that if it does come back — I’ve done it once, I can do it again! I won’t let it win.
Jacksonville, FL
