In July of 2007 while getting dressed for work I discovered a small hard lump on the side of my right breast. I laid back on my bed and continued to feel the lump and knew immediately something was wrong. I called my doctor and made an appointment the following day.
Things went very quickly from there. My Obgyn sent me to a surgeon who performed a needle biopsy. He called me within two days after the test and told me it was positive for breast cancer. At that moment I lost touch with all reality. I was sitting in the passenger seat of my car while my son was driving and my daughter was sitting in the backseat.
My children and I talked. Once we had it out in the open, we cried, got scared and then moved right into solutions.
I made my next appointment with the surgeon who went onto explain my options. We scheduled a lumpectomy, which means removing the lump and also taking some of my lymph nodes to biopsy. Once the surgery was finished the results on the lymph nodes came back negative and I began 6 months of chemo therapy. Once I finished the chemo there was a wait period of 4 weeks followed by 2 months of daily radiation.
No one in my family had breast cancer before myself. I don't ask why or how I got it, I just did. I don't know why I survived, but I do know that I had faith and allowed people to love me through it. My love of God, children, family and friends made the difference for me. I'm going into my 3rd year of surviving!
Clarkston, MI
