In October of 2009, I heard the dreaded words "You have malignant breast cancer." I had gone for my first mammogram and wasn't concerned because cancer does not run in my family and I hadn't noticed any lumps. A few days later, I received a letter stating that there were shadows on my films and I needed to re-do the mammo. I scheduled it for a couple of days later. The technician showed me a few calcifications on the previous films and said they just wanted to "make sure". Five minutes after she took the new films to review with the doctor, he rushed into the room and told me I needed to see a surgeon immediately. Within the next 3 weeks, I had a needle biopsy that was positive and a surgical biopsy to confirm. Three days later, my surgeon called to tell me I had malignant breast cancer and would need a mastectomy. On Nov 4, 2 days before my birthday, I had a radical mastectomy of my left breast along with 20 lymph nodes removed. Two large tumors were found in my breast and 2 lymph nodes were fully involved. I decided to begin with reconstruction prior to chemo. On Dec 11, I checked into the hospital for a one surgery, 4 day stay. Unfortunately, I ended up with 3 surgeries in 72 hours with a 6 day stay. Sadly, the reconstruction was not successful. On Feb 5, I started chemo, finishing on April 9. I am having a follow-up mammogram on my right breast this week and, if all is clear, I will attempt reconstruction again. My family has been a great support and I wouldn't have been able to do this without them. I now live every day as if it is my last.

Kelley
Sachse, TX