Those were the longest weeks of my life. Finally on May 18th I decided to call my family physician and went to see him. I could tell by the look on his face it wasn't good. He said "with your permission I would like to set up a mammogram and an appointment with a surgeon". I went for my mammogram and waited for the surgeon to arrive. After he arrived he checked the mammogram and checked the lump and said " we are going to do a biopsy". It was of course Friday so we had to wait until Monday for the results.
Monday came and the news was not good. Yes it was cancer. We returned to the surgeon's office to discuss options. We had pretty much made up our mind that we wanted was a modified radical mastectomy. Mainly because my Father had died of brain and lung cancer in 1978 and my sister had died in 1984 of colon cancer and we just felt that there was a better chance if the breast was removed. Well we asked the surgeon anyway what he thought, and he agreed with our decision of a modified radical mastectomy.
Surgery was set for May 24th, 1990 at noon. This is the day that changed my life forever. Surgery went well. My left breast was removed along with 23 lymph nodes and one node came back cancerous.
I started six months of chemotherapy, which consisted of Methotrexate, 5FU and Cytoxan. I had no problems with my chemo except a small amount of nausea and I had medicine to help with that. I lost some, but not all of my hair. I did not have radiation or reconstruction. I also did relaxation and visualization all through my chemo and I still listen to one tape every night when I go to bed. I really believe this has helped in my recovery. I have kept a positive attitude through all of this.
Yes, it is scary at times but we have to look for the positive things in life. Cancer has changed my life for the better. I no longer think I am super mom. I now take time to stop and smell the roses and enjoy each day to its fullest. My husband has been by my side through this entire journey for which I am very grateful. We have headed up a cancer support group in our area, have given speeches at Cancer Survivors Day, and I have spoken at Breast Cancer Awareness Day events. I was recently made co-founder of Breast Cancer Support Group on the Web. We post notes and have chat most every night of the week. I also belong to Friends of the Pink Ribbon and Yahoo cancer chat. I am a volunteer for R.A.Bloch Cancer Hotline. I really enjoy chatting with and helping both cancer and breast cancer patients. That is how my website Breast Cancer Patients Soul Mates for Life was born.
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