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Thanks to God!!!

I started to have pain in left breast 2 1/2 yrs. ago. Felt a golf ball size something. Figured it was a fibroid cyst. Went to Gyno and he said same thing. Went for mammogram (hadn't had one in 12 yrs., shame on me). Suspicious, so had ultra sound, then MRI. Had biopsy. Turned out to be Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. Wow!! I was shocked. Asked why pain, as with cancer there isn't any and was asked if I drank caffeine. Yes. That's what aggrevated the tumor. I thank God for that pain, because once I made the Gyno appt., the pain was gone!!
First Oncologist wanted to do surgery right away, plus augmentation in both breasts, then chemo and radiation. The surgery would have been a partial mastectomy, due to the size of tumor. My son-in-law insisted on my getting a second opinion-and I am soooo glad I did. This Oncologist was wonderful. First, had lymphnode surgery, nothing found, all clean (10 removed). Had 8 sessions of chemo, every other week. Tumor shrank from golf ball size to new pea!!! Only bad experience with chemo was with Taxal!! Had surgery, lumpectomy. Then a month later, went for 36 radiation treatments. I thank God for being with me, in comfort, peace, chemo and radiation (not even red from radiation and very few side effects from chemo). I cannot state hard enough to get a 2nd opinion!! What a difference it made.
This September I will be 2 years cancer-free and I thank God daily.
Please, please, please, ladies, get your mammogram's done on a yearly basis. They said I had this cancer for 10 years!!! I didn't do self-exams either. Please realize the importance of self-exams and mammograms!!

Maggie Mundhenk
Piqua, OH

Music in the Meadow to Benefit Susan G Komen Race for the Cure

I have owned the Motel in the Meadow in Chester, VT for over 8 years. Upon moving here it struck me that with this large meadow I had the perfect venue to have a concert to honor the good friends I've lost to breast cancer. This will be our seventh year hosting this event. All money raised goes to the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. This year should be the best yet. We are going to be a two day event on both Saturday July 11th & Sunday the 12th.

Saturday will be our regular concert from 1 -- 7 pm and will include for the first time Mark Shelton of Newport , VT www.sonicbids.com/MarkShelton. Returning to our stage will be the fan favorites the Stockwell Brothers from Putney VT , Tom Hitchcock and the Never Be Brothers from Springfield , VT , John Taylor and Mike Leuci from NY, Rob Cannillo from Florida , NY, and Chester's own GB 101. Aside from all this wonderful talent donating their time and performing under the tent we have the New England Dukes of Hazzard and their cars on display. Curtis' Bar-be-que will have their famous Ribs. TARPS will be cooking hot dogs and burgers for all to enjoy and of course snow cones, popcorn, and fried bread dough for the kid in all of us. Local crafters will be displaying their wares as well as a magnificent Silent Auction.

On Sunday from 10:30 to 2pm come for breakfast of French Toast & Sausage and stay for a good old fashioned Tent Hymn Sing with the Rusty Pickup Band from Peru, VT and Mark Shelton performing again as well.

Anonymous
Chester, VT

Today I am a Survivor

One week before my 50th birthday this year, I was scheduled to receive my yearly mammogram. (May 6)

One week later, I was told that I needed to come back in and have an ultrasound performed because there were some "suspicious" areas on the x-ray. (May 14) Happy Birthday to me!

A week and a half later, I was scheduled for a stereotactic biopsy. (May 27)

On June 2nd, the doctor called to inform me of the pathology results and that I had breast cancer -- Grade 2 DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ) two areas 4mm in the right breast.

A couple days later I contacted a breast surgeon who was referred to me by my gynecologist. (June 4)

After a consultation in her office, she arranged for me to have an MRI performed so that she can rule out that there were no other suspicious areas hidden that the ultrasound did not pick up on. (June 10)

The results of the MRI were thankfully negative, and so a date for a lumpectomy was scheduled. (July 8) with possible radiation afterwords

I am scared but I am hopeful.... and I am thankful to have the support and love of my family & friends and sites such as this to turn to and read personal accounts of so many brave women who have survived this dreadful disease despite their fear.

I cannot stress the importance of having a mammogram done on a yearly basis, because my cancer was not felt as a lump.

The fear of having a mammogram cannot even come close to the fear of being told that you have cancer, but if caught early, you too will be a survivor!

UPDATE: Yesterday I had my surgery. Today I am a Survivor.

Deb
Shelton, CT

I AM A SURVIVOR

On January 4, 2005, with my best girl by my side, I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. From the moment the doctor said it, I was determined to live. With my son, my two best girls and Just Like A Mom at my side, I went into surgery on January 27, 2005. The day was long day and after hours of surgery, I MADE IT and have been Cancer Free since. It was only by the Grace of God and the loving support that I've received, that I did made it though such a tough time in my life. Early detection and knowing your body is key in fighting cancer. I never had a lump and always had normal mammograms. I started having a discharge from my nipple and dismissed it as nothing, until I mentioned it to a friend, who just happened to be nurse. She immediately told me to go and check it out. I had never been told to squeeze my nipple during my self exam each month. Now, I check my nipple each month, sometimes each day. Know your body and if anything changes, get to the doctor right away. I STILL HAVE THE BEST SUPPORT SYSTEM EVER AND I THANK GOD DAILY FOR EACH ONE OF THEM.

Cynthia
Southaven, MS

God knows so listen!

I was diagnosed with breast cancer in right breast at the age of 45 on Sept. 5, 2007. Had 2 lumpectomies to remove the tumor. It was 1.5 cm and had 3 positive nodes. Left breast was ultra sounded 3 times to make sure there was no cancer and everything was clear. When I went to start chemo the oncologist kept feeling I should have an MRI. She fought with the decission because there was no medical reason for it and she wasn't sure how she would explain it to the insurance companies, but she was feeling very strong that I should have one. I know that was God whispering in her ear and I am so grateful she listened. It turned out that I did have cancer in the left breast that ALL 3 ultra sounds missed. My husband and I prayed about it and decided that I should have a bilateral mastectomy. I have to admit that I loved my breast, but not as much as having a life to spend with my family. My surgeon and oncologist are both women who both believe very much in lumpectomies to save the breasts instead of having mastectomies. When I told them of our decission neither of them hesitated. That confirmed to me it was the right one. I had my double mastectomy on Halloween 2007. Afterward it turned out I had a 1.7 cm tumor and 5 positive nodes. The kicker was there was also an additional 4mm tumor on the right side that hadn't shown up on anything. If we and the doctors had not listen to that little voice, GOD'S, I could have gone through the 4 months of chemo and 6 weeks of radiation only to die from the cancer that wasn't found.

Jenny Wilson
Hampton, VA

Of the importance of prevention

Twenty years ago my mother underwent mastectomy, radio- and chemotherapy as well as breast reconstruction. She is well and alive. Last year it was my turn to undergo breast surgery. But thanks to a yearly mamograph and ultrasound exam since 20 years, I got rid of the tumour at the very early stage. My tumour could not be palpated. Hence the importance of prevention!
I have since joined a study on the impact of alimentation and physical exercise on cancer recurrence and am setting up a cancer support group at work. I live in Italy near Milan where the founder of breast-conserving surgery with the invention of the technique of quadrantectomy, Prof. Umberto Veronesi, still works. He is an outstanding person and has done/does so much for us, women.

Trudie
Varese, Italy

Mom survives yet again.

In March of 2001, my mother, was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a radical mastectomy and lymph node removal. My husband and I were returning from Hawaii after his deployment there with the military. I didn't know until we returned that she had the surgery. Every year since then she celebrates by walking in our annual Relay for Life Cancer Survivor Walk. I have walked every year with her on her first lap and every year we have been blessed to have her around. This past June we celebrated 8 years cancer free. The day after the walk, she found out that once again, she had breast cancer in her other breast. She is also in early onset Alzheimer's and I feared the worse. She had a bilateral mastectomy yesterday and today, in the hospital, she is up and moving around like nothing ever happened. Her family and friends, church members, and past co-workers have rallied around her with prayers for her to come thru this with no worries. Once again Mom is a survivor!

Rita Sapp
Oak Grove, KY

Miracle healing- ( FYI- My picture on this facebook) - I am deaf

My cancer was caught early when my deaf friend, whose healthy co- worker like me died from the breast cancer without feeling any pain until later , urged me to see my doctor. At that time I started to feel a lump in my right breast a few months later after I had a check -up . And I did not have a chance to make calls for having mammograms due to a new hospital in Plano, TX, where my family doctor recommanded at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano in Spring, 2007..
I waited until after my summer camp, then I had an appointment with my another doctor for my mammograms at the same hospital, about 45 minutes drive from Dallas. Later I was told to return to have a biopsy done at once before they found out that it was a cancer (stage 2). So I asked my friends at church and schools to pray for me and informed this bad news to our families. Many prayers went up and God is good to us .
Finally I had my mastecomy after my discussion with my best Oncologist and breast surgeon at Presbyterian Hospital of Plano based on my biogsy report showed that my right breast cancer is interducial , meaning that there was a higher chance and it can spread if it was left and not treated. So it was serious to get the entire breast . Due to my small breast with a big tumor, it wont came back if I got rid of my entired brease with1 lymphnode, which was positive for cancer.
I had the removal of my mediport last Jan.,2009 ,even my health improved dramatically after taking USANA vitamins starting last March, 2008.as long as I still take Arimidex daily ( four years left).

Linda Fenske
Dallas, TX

Its so important to get mammograms

I went to get my annual routine mammogram back in May 2007. I felt no lumps, we had no history of breast cancer in our family and therefore no reason to believe there was anything wrong. I had a mastecomy on my right breast July 1,2007, two surguries after that. I was very fortunate that they caught it as early as they did I didn't have to have chemo or radiation. And have been cancer free for for 2 years now.

Kim Hernandez
Bradenton, FL

Grandmother

My grandma is 66 years old. 3 mths ago, my aunt came home from wk and found her laying on the floor of the living room, not responding. When she did come to, she was slurring her words and we knew something was wrong. She was rushed to the E-room where she was seen by the attending physicians who did all the normal tests. Her normal Dr was called and came to the hospital. She received 4 pints of blood that evening (that's how low the count of platelettes were), and was sent home the next day. He asked for a follow up as his office the next week. The next wk we took her to the follow up where they performed detailed bld work and said they would let us know the results. When the results returned, they referrred her to a hematologist oncologist. aplastic anemia-they said. The Dr then said that she would need to do another follow up bld test to monitor any change She received another 3 pints of blood. (7 in a month). She starting doing bi-weekly shots that they said would help her own bone marrow to produce it's own red blood cells, (now they say myleofibrosis). The Dr, after doing a lymp node biopsy-inconclusive, then doing a bone marrow biopsy which gave the sign and symptoms of the myleofibrosis, the results were then sent off for further testing in CA .The results returned from CA from the bone marrow biopsy that it was stage 4 breast cancer. She is curr. doing radiation on a tumor that was found in the hip joint and will continue until next week. She will then have the port put in approximatley a week later and then start what chemo they can to try to slow the progression.

Kristin Hailey
Houston, TX