It wasn't the call from the radiology department calling you back in for a magnified mammogram and an ultrasound, I had those calls before. It wasn't the call from your doctors office asking you to go for the core biopsy scary, but I knew lots of women who had biopsies, with no further follow-up required.
It was the call, two days earlier than expected, from my doctors office with an appointment to meet a surgeon. It was waiting to meet the surgeon with every scenario running through my head as to how bad it could be.
Meeting with the surgeon on that much anticipated day with my husband at my side was a blur. The surgeons words within the first minutes of meeting him, "Heather, you have breast cancer and here are your options..." No time to panic, just a whole lot of unanswered questions and decisions until I could get into the operating room and have the cancer removed from my body.
Breast cancer is something that I am familiar with as my mother had been through it twice and many great aunts had undergone breast cancer treatments or died before the technology and screening processes that we have today. My mother had successfully treated her cancer twice before and was leading a healthy life. As it turned out, on the same fateful day I was diagnosed with breast cancer, my mother heard for the third time that she had breast cancer yet again. Not something she was expecting given all she had been through and how diligent she is about keeping on top of her health.
I, however, was expecting to hear those words one day, which is why I am so religious about keeping mammogram appointments and follow-ups.
So, here I am, post surgery, reflecting on my experience and sharing it with you. I was extremely lucky. My chosen course of treatment was to have a mastectomy and a rebuild with an implant during the same surgery. My sentinel node biopsy showed the cancer had not spread, so no further treatment was necessary.
I am feeling fantasticand thankful. I have witnessed what my mother went through with chemotherapy and radiation. I know how lucky I am.
You can see why I am passionate about helping in any way that I can to find ways to prevent and cure cancer. My mother and I are alive today thanks to research that took place years ago and current technologies that are part of the research dollars that are funded by events like the Weekend to End Womens Cancer.
Walk with me. For our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends, walk with me.
Very moving story. Thanks for sharing. It just reinforces why we walk, why some of us keep coming back year after year, hoping that one day we won't have to walk anymore. Good luck with your training and fund raising, and may your tests forever be negative.
