My story is not mine alone, I share mine with my daughter, my mother, my friends and all the women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. I am a mother, a fitness competitor, a fighter and a survivor. I have been living a healthy lifestyle the majority of my adult life, had no family history of cancer and was still too young for preventative screening. It was not until the day I found a symptom, blood in the left cup of my bra, that a mammogram was recommended. September 2013, at the age of 36, I receive the diagnosis: extensive ductal carcinoma. In December of 2013 I had my left breast mastectomy.
Post surgery had left me with a drainage tube and a tissue expander that felt like a rubber hot water bottle under my skin. Four days before Christmas was the follow up pathology report, my lymph nodes had come back negative, no chemo or radiation required. Disbelief, fear, shock, and confusion came rushing through my head all at once during my original diagnosis. Relief, guilt, elation took over. My emotions throughout this journey continuously fought over which one would prevail. Some days it felt like I would never be able to silence the emotional torment.
An overwhelming sense of calm comes over me when I look at my beautiful two-year-old daughter. My torment is silenced; only love fills my thoughts and my heart, deep unabiding love for my daughter. Strength, courage, fighter, role model dominated my thoughts when I went in for my reconstructive surgery in April. I am now on the road to recovery. Amongst all the medical jargon and sterility of cancer I was able to find the strength within myself and that strength calls me mommy.
London, Canada
