One month during my period, I noticed a lump while in the shower. After my period, it went away. This lasted for 3 months. The 4th month, the lump stayed. I had no insurance and the single mother of 4 children. I was in the position to have a job with insurance in 3 more months so I thought that I could wait, even though in my mind I knew it was cancer. After 1 1/2 months went by, my health went down hill so fast that I knew I had to find help no matter what. I found a Doctor. After the mammogram, they quit counting after 10 LARGE areas on my breast and told me the whole thing had to go. I told them to take them both. THe Doctor told me that it was probably in my lymphnodes and that it was Stage III or Stage IV. I would have a year of chemo and then radiation and then we would see. After my surgery, and the pathology report came back, ALL of the nodes that they had taken were CLEAR and the other breast had pre-cancerous cells in it. The results: I only had 3 chemo treatments, no radiation. My decision to have the other breast removed meant that I did not have to go through it a second time. That has been 8 1/2 years ago. So far, I have seen my oldest child graduate college, my next two graduate high school. A also found a wonderful man who had never been married, had children who walked through the WHOLE experience of breast cancer with me. We have been happily married now 6 1/2 years. God has a way of turning thorns into roses.
SELF EXAMS DO SAVE LIVES.
Springfield, MO