I was taking a shower when I felt a pea sized lump under my arm. Instantly, my heart sank. I do not know why but I knew it was bad. Next day, I went to see my ob-gyn. He felt it and said he thought it was nothing, it was "movable" and I was young (40 YOA). Despite my instincts, I waited a few weeks to get an ultrasound.
On Good Friday, 2010, I got the call that it is cancer. The tumors were large under my arm so I had 6 months of chemo to see if they would shrink. Thankfully, it worked. Next, was a mastectomy. A PET scan showed no cancer in the right breast and my surgeon asked me if I wanted to remove my right breast. I say absolutely. The results after surgery: Stage IIIC in my left breast, 20/20 lymph nodes had cancer and Stage I in right breast. My surgeon tells me my survival rate is 23 percent! The next day, I go to my oncologist's office, hysterical. I have 3 children! My daughter is only 10 years old. My oncologist says YOU ARE NOT A STATISTIC!! I next have aggressive radiation and have 35 treatments over 6 areas.
I worked throughout it all, with my 20 year old coming to every one of my chemo treatments. I am a single mom, and work as an attorney. I never realized how awesome my fellow attorneys and family truly are! Despite our competitive nature, they were there to make sure I was covered. They even held a fund raiser and bought my children and I four tickets to travel to Italy to see my family, a dream come true.
So far, no evidence of the disease! I am proud to be a survivor!!
Kissimmee, FL
