CBCS’s Funding Comes From:
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation
Breast Cancer Research Foundation
National Cancer Institute
U.S. Department of Defense
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center
Now enrolling in Phase 4!
I was diagnosed with breast cancer February 2012. I found the lump on my left breast myself and I knew what it was due to the way it felt. I immediately set an appointment to have the lump reviewed and well…the rest is history. There’s never a good time to be told you have cancer (of any kind) but I would have chose not have been told before I had my now two-year-old daughter. I am a 44-year-old single parent and as I was literally getting into the routine of parenting alone, I found the lump. I get mammograms yearly, I receive physicals annually, and I am actually teased for going to the doctor excessively, so how in the world could this happen to me?
Well, it happened and with that being said, I set it in my mind that this wasn’t going to be my death sentence and took charge of my life and health and turned my entire experience into something positive. I exercised during treatment (slacking off when chemotherapy took over), attended outdoor concerts, kayaked (for the first time I might add) after my lumpectomy on my 44th birthday, and cared for me beautiful baby girl (of course with the support of family and friends).
My treatment of chemotherapy, a lumpectomy, and radiation officially ended last November and I must say 2012 seemed to have moved pretty quickly. One of the most important things for me was to not look the part: like a cancer patient receiving chemotherapy. I was determined not to look sad, tired, or frumpy as I had continuously witnessed in other patients while preparing for my journey. I remember attending my first support meeting and as I looked around the room I quietly promised I would not look like “them.” “Them” would be the breast cancer patients enduring much more than I had at that time. I quickly gained the understanding of their awkward stares and humble appearances once I began chemotherapy. I succeeded in my personal goal of not looking like “them,” although it was not easy, and began to realize that my positive attitude seemed to inspire others. I am very thankful for the multiple means of support that I have which helped me continue, with challenges, to provide myself daily needs, but there are many who do not. I now realize that my purpose for this journey is solely to help others.
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation
Breast Cancer Research Foundation
National Cancer Institute
U.S. Department of Defense
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center