Count your blessings and not your problems. This is a powerful statement for me and this is my personal story about my breast cancer journey. I've always followed through with getting yearly mammograms and doing monthly breast self exams religiously. In 11'05, I felt a lump in my right breast and went to my doctor right away. I had a mammogram and ultrasound done on 12-12-05. At first, my surgeon suspected the lump was benign since I had several benign cysts removed by him since 2'95.  From there, a biopsy was done on 12-16-05. The results surprised my surgeon because the lump was malignant. When I heard the news, I didn't have a pity party, I told the Lord, I knew he was going to get me through this because I had faith that he would. After the diagnosis, I had decisions to make. Since I had a family history of breast cancer, (I lost an aunt to this disease in 1998 and she was my mother's only sister) I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy because I didn't want to risk having to deal with cancer developing in the left breast at a future date. On 1-10-06, a mammogram and needle core biopsy was done on the left breast. No malignancy was found but a fibroadenoma was.  This was the same pattern I experienced with the right breast so I stood firm with my decision and the surgery was done on 2-8-06 to remove both breasts. My surgeon also removed some of the lymph nodes on the right side. Turns out 6 of those were cancerous. Because of the lymph node involvment, I was referred to an oncologist who advised I had StageII Invasive Breast Cancer and for precautionary measures, Chemo and Radiation therapy had to be administered to be certain any cancer cells that may have spread elsewhere in the body were destroyed. No one knows exactly why cancer shows up but I firmly believe in my case that because I was prescribed and took Hormone Replacement Therapy for 7 months after I had a hysterectomy I got this disease. No way to know for sure, but that's my belief. Everything happens for a reason and the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Just before I had my mastectomy, my mother in-law was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. We have the same oncologist and we sometimes went to chemotherapy together. We count our blessings in that our mothers live 2 blocks from each other so he can spend his days with his mom and nights with me at my mother's. My mother was more than happy to have me stay and recuperate at her home. She's been living alone since my dad passed away in 9'05 of a heart attack.

   

    Prior to me finding my lump, I worked for a Personal Lines Insurance Company. My employer didn't offer short term disability and that meant I wouldn't have an income. I didn't let this worry me because I put my whole faith in God. Just when I thought I wouldn't have an income, my wonderful co-workers began to donate their vacation and sick time to me so I would have an income. The donated income continued until I was able to get Long Term Disability. This is why I count my blessings and not my problems. God always provides when you believe in him.

 

Getting back to my journey, I began chemotherapy on 3-14-06. The toughest hurdle to get over is the side effects. I've had my bouts with mouth sores, nausea and vomiting. There is nausea medication which helps a little but I figure since chemo is poison anyway, it's just the body's way of expelling it from your system. For the mouth sores, I was prescribed a solution called "Magic Mouthwash" I can truly say it worked it's magic in a few days. No idea what's in it but a pharmacist had to mix it up. My hands and feet looked like they stayed dirty and cracked from the chemo. Even after washing, they looked dirty. The nail beds on my fingers turned black. These are just other side effects to deal with. The nausea and vomiting zaps your energy but for me, it was only a few days that I was down. If I didn't drink the Himalayan Goji Juice, I would have been down a lot longer.  You can find out about this healthy juice at: http://www.jerryberry.freelife.com 

   

     I lost the hair on my head after the 2nd chemo treatment. My finger tips and the front half of my feet are still numb. This is called neuropathy which is a common side effect from the chemo drug Taxol. I got my last chemo treatment on 6-19-06.  My oncologist told me the numbness will disappear on its own. He and his staff were very thorough and my hemoglobin and white blood cell counts were monitored very closely. From this experience, I was inspired to host an online talk show for cancer survivors. My first show was on 6-20-06 and I will be having future shows.                   

    

     On 7-25-06, I got my first radiation treatment and the last treatment was given on 9-13-06. The only side effects I experienced from this was feeling a little tired in the afternoon and getting radiation burns to the treated area.  It took a least 3 weeks for the radiated area to start to heal. Because of this, I could not have breast reconstruction surgery until 3'07. During the last few weeks of radiation, my hair started growing back. I got a lot of compliments on how nice it looked. Having cancer is not a death sentence but it's a condition that can be conquered when caught early coupled with the proper treatment plan. I know I am blessed by the best because I am a breast cancer survivor.

       On 3-13-07, I had a bilateral tram flap breast reconstruction procedure done. I decided on this option because I preferred to have my own skin and tissue used to have a more natural look and feel to the breasts. I also liked the idea of getting a tummy tuck done in the process. This is considered major surgery and it's about a 7 hour procedure because the plastic surgeon has to do microsurgery on the blood vessels so there's sufficient blood flow to the tissues. One of the risks with this procedure is necrosis or tissue death to the flap. Unfortunately, this happened to the left breast and I had to undergo surgery again to remove that breast. My plastic surgeon was so disappointed that I felt really sorry for him. The nurses told me I was the first patient he had that suffered necrosis of a flap. So I guess I've put a blemish in his reputation. 

     There was a complication with anesthesia in the operating room. The anesthesiologist forced the (ET) tube down my throat which caused trauma to my throat and left vocal cord. When I woke up, I had a breathing tube in my mouth which was a bit scarry. I was confused why it was there in the first place. Once it was removed, I had what's referred to as stridor. It was just a horrible sound I made when I exhaled. I've had several surgeries and never had that before. I fault the anesthesiologist because the report I furnished from the surgery I had on 2-8-06 was never read. If the time had been taken to read that report, then it would have been known that when an attempt to intubate me is made, it causes me to have broncospasms, so it's best to do a procedure known as a (LMA aka larengeal mask airway). When the surgery was done to remove the left breast because of the necrosis, I had to tell them to make sure the report was read. Thank God they listened and that surgery was done without any complications. I now know why it's so important to be proactive in your own health care. If you don't it could be detrimental. While I was in the hospital, an ENT doc looked down my nose and throat and found that my left vocal cord only trembles when air hits it, it's partially paralyzed. I found out a year ago my right vocal cord was paralyzed from prior trauma 33 years ago from a gunshot wound. I know that I can speak because of the grace of God. 

     I had surgery again on 7-17-07. My plastic surgeon took a skin flap from my upper back to reconstruct the left breast. He also put in a tissue expander that was filled with saline over a period of 8 weeks. After that, I had minor surgery to replace the expander with a saline implant in 11'07.  Well it turned out to be significantly larger than the right breast so, the last surgery took place on 3-13-08 to replace the implant with a smaller one and the nipple reconstruction was done on both breasts at that time. I was asked why I didn't just except the tummy tuck and the reconstructed right breast instead of having more surgeries because I could have chosen to wear a left breast prothesis? The answer is I don't start anything that I can't finish and I refused to give in to what cancer had done to me. I had to be victorious over cancer and felt it could be done because my faith is anchored in Christ.

I'm proud to be a breast cancer survivor and I am now back at work full time and thanking God for everyday he blesses me to see. I am currently participating in a study administered by The Lee Moffitt Cancer Center to determine if the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes have a genectic factor in African American Women developing breast cancer.

I felt this is a way for me to help others and I have female family members that may benefit from me taking part in this study.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my Breast Cancer Journey.

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