I am a 34 year old wife and mother of three boys. I have always been used to being the caregiver in my family. My youngest son has downsyndrome and was later diagnosed with congestive heart failure, and my middle son has sickle cell c disease. It came to such a shock when I received the news that no longer kept me as caregiver but that I would soon become the patient.

In July of 2012 I was diagnosed with stage 3b breast cancer (inflammatory breast cancer). My whole world changed in just one day, and my life has never been the same. I did 6 sessions of (TAC) chemotherapy, which lasted 4 months. In January 2013 I underwent a modified radical masectomy of the left breast and removal of over 24 lymph nodes in my armpit that contained cancer. Then I did 37 sessions of extensive radiation to my left chest wall and arm pit. In April 2013 they rescanned me and the news was that all the cancer had been removed!!! God is awesome! I have been going through my reconstruction phases since August of 2013 when I had a mastectomy of the right breast, along with the latissimus flap procedure with the insertion of expanders. In January 2014 I had the expanders removed and implants put in along with liposuction to the chest and back area. The next phase is nipple reconstruction.

I said all this to say that you can make it. Early detection is critical.

Davetta Greene
Arlington, TX