Hi!
I just wanted to share my breast cancer journey with ya'll.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month if you've wondered why a lot of people have been wearing pink.
Many people advised, counseled and help me through this time and I wanted to pass on what I've learned and felt through all this.
Breast Cancer alone is hard to deal with, add in the MonSter and it really gets interesting.
This thread will have to be in segments so as not to overload you at one time.
**THE BEGININNG**
My first remembered experience with breast cancer was when I was 15. My granny had been dxd with it and the doctors told my mom that she had a 90% chance of it being throughout her whole body.
We lived in Atlanta & granny in Nashville. My aunt, also in Atlanta, mom and i went to be with her during surgery & recovery.
She had a double mastectomy and at the time it hadn't spread. She didn't have reconstruction and I can still see in my mind her flat scarred chest. (They weren't near as careful as they are these days.)
She lived well and on her own for another 10 yrs. She died when I was pregnant with another great grandchild for her.
Fast forward-- at 29 I discover a lump in right breast.
Doctor examined it and did mammogram. He was mostly sure that it was benign, but wanted to remove it to make sure.
He removed surgically 8 fibroid tumors from my right breast, leaving a bit of a scar since he actually cut in and took them. No needle biopsy available then.
A few years later my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She didn't have surgery. Instead they zapped her with radiation and chemo. I'll never forget her chest looking like cooked meat even years later.
For 3 yrs., she was cancer free.
Then it returned in her spine and rib cage. After needle biopsy, it was determined inoperable cancer because of it being located in the bone itself.
She underwent 10 yrs. of chemo and other treatments. For awhile they would work. Then her numbers would start going back up and she would have to start treatment again.
Despite living 1200 miles away, my girls and i made frequent trips to visit. Luckily i was able to go a couple of times a year since i was a school teacher.
While there i would take her to chemo treatments. She always remained upbeat. But as the years went on, i could tell the toll and pain that it all was taking on her.
She fought well for 10 yrs., but lung cancer got her in the end in 2005.
So with my family history and my personal brush with breast cancer drs. have always keep an eye on me. The place where so many tumors were removed always alarmed new drs. (we move a lot) but were always able to verify with ultrasound that it was scar tissue or more fibroid tumors.
My doctor here in IL, put me on a 6 mo. mammogram schedule just to be sure. Thank God for him!!!
August 2011 my mammogram was normal.
I put it off this year until May when my dr. threatened me in a 3rd letter!
The radiologist came in after the mammogram and said that the area they'd been watching had disappeared. I was happy for about 3 seconds, until he explained that it meant another mass was covering it up and would need to be checked.
Within a week I consulted with a surgeon and he explained that we would have to do a needle biopsy in order to know whether this new mass was cancer or not.
A biopsy was schedule d for 2 weeks, since we'd already paid for a cruise starting the following week.
So, I enjoyed myself on the cruise and was mostly able to keep the 'C' word locked up until we got home.
Stay tuned for my biopsy experience and 'the rest of the story'.
may God bless you richly!
If anyone would like to email me privately instead of posting, feel free to at www.poohb3ar@msworld.com. I will do my best to check and answer in a timely fashion.
I just wanted to share my breast cancer journey with ya'll.
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month if you've wondered why a lot of people have been wearing pink.
Many people advised, counseled and help me through this time and I wanted to pass on what I've learned and felt through all this.
Breast Cancer alone is hard to deal with, add in the MonSter and it really gets interesting.
This thread will have to be in segments so as not to overload you at one time.
**THE BEGININNG**
My first remembered experience with breast cancer was when I was 15. My granny had been dxd with it and the doctors told my mom that she had a 90% chance of it being throughout her whole body.
We lived in Atlanta & granny in Nashville. My aunt, also in Atlanta, mom and i went to be with her during surgery & recovery.
She had a double mastectomy and at the time it hadn't spread. She didn't have reconstruction and I can still see in my mind her flat scarred chest. (They weren't near as careful as they are these days.)
She lived well and on her own for another 10 yrs. She died when I was pregnant with another great grandchild for her.
Fast forward-- at 29 I discover a lump in right breast.
Doctor examined it and did mammogram. He was mostly sure that it was benign, but wanted to remove it to make sure.
He removed surgically 8 fibroid tumors from my right breast, leaving a bit of a scar since he actually cut in and took them. No needle biopsy available then.
A few years later my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. She didn't have surgery. Instead they zapped her with radiation and chemo. I'll never forget her chest looking like cooked meat even years later.
For 3 yrs., she was cancer free.
Then it returned in her spine and rib cage. After needle biopsy, it was determined inoperable cancer because of it being located in the bone itself.
She underwent 10 yrs. of chemo and other treatments. For awhile they would work. Then her numbers would start going back up and she would have to start treatment again.
Despite living 1200 miles away, my girls and i made frequent trips to visit. Luckily i was able to go a couple of times a year since i was a school teacher.
While there i would take her to chemo treatments. She always remained upbeat. But as the years went on, i could tell the toll and pain that it all was taking on her.
She fought well for 10 yrs., but lung cancer got her in the end in 2005.
So with my family history and my personal brush with breast cancer drs. have always keep an eye on me. The place where so many tumors were removed always alarmed new drs. (we move a lot) but were always able to verify with ultrasound that it was scar tissue or more fibroid tumors.
My doctor here in IL, put me on a 6 mo. mammogram schedule just to be sure. Thank God for him!!!
August 2011 my mammogram was normal.
I put it off this year until May when my dr. threatened me in a 3rd letter!
The radiologist came in after the mammogram and said that the area they'd been watching had disappeared. I was happy for about 3 seconds, until he explained that it meant another mass was covering it up and would need to be checked.
Within a week I consulted with a surgeon and he explained that we would have to do a needle biopsy in order to know whether this new mass was cancer or not.
A biopsy was schedule d for 2 weeks, since we'd already paid for a cruise starting the following week.
So, I enjoyed myself on the cruise and was mostly able to keep the 'C' word locked up until we got home.
Stay tuned for my biopsy experience and 'the rest of the story'.
may God bless you richly!
If anyone would like to email me privately instead of posting, feel free to at www.poohb3ar@msworld.com. I will do my best to check and answer in a timely fashion.
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