Lying in bed one night, did a self exam, found a lump on my right breast. Immediately woke up Vince (my fiance), telling him about it and the next day went to the doctor. The doctor sent me for a mammogram. I was then asked if I could wait and do an ultrasound, so I did and before you know it, I have an appointment with a surgeon to discuss results. He wants me to get a biopsy and an MRI. Everything is happening so fast and I'm beginning to worry......but still trying to stay positive. Well after almost two weeks I go see the surgeon.....sitting there waiting for him to come into the room and trying my best to stay strong, I hear "unfortunately your results came back positive, you have breast cancer" I looked at him and said, "it is"? and then I put my hands over my face and starting to cry. Everything went blank, all I thought was, am I going to die? and about my kids. I was in shock. I had a masectomy and stayed home to recover for about four weeks. Following that I needed four sessions of chemo, then five years of tamoxifen because the tests showed it was stage 2 and ER positive. Well this Wed. Jan. 8th will be my last chemo so far its been okay, I've had good days and bad days. I did lose all my hair two weeks after the first chemo, I donated it to "wigs for kids" so I didn't feel that bad. I do get tired a lot, and lots of joint pain. Climbing stairs for me is painful. Having cancer really opens your eyes, it puts things into perspective. Here I was happy, engaged to be married (second chance at happiness) healthy great kids, and I get thrown this........why? It's a journey I have to take. I smile and try my best to stay positive. If I can tell anyone out there one thing, if you find something, get it checked! Look at me stage 2 all happened within 1 month.

Rosie Alfano
Toronto, Canada