Happy Sunday to everyone. Im introducing the next Link of Hope Sista with love in my heart. She is totally delish and Im so happy that we came into each others lives. This is Lyrica Lynn from S. Florida....in her own words. On April 10, 2013, at age 39, while stepping out from my job to pick up lunch, I received a phone call I will never forget. The nurse on the other end of the line said, its cancer. Just like that. Its impossible to put into words what happens to a person when they hear those words spoken about them. I was so young. I never even realized that women as young as me got breast cancer?! I had recently had my yearly mammogram and ultrasound. My doctor had begun ordering ultrasounds because I had fibrocystic breasts and they werent always able to get a good reading by mammogram. At my last ultrasound, the tech mentioned she saw something strange. I remember going back for another mammogram to try to find what she was seeing, but still nothing. I was then sent for a biopsy. And now, the biopsy results were back. Atypical hyperplasia in my right breast (I had surgery to remove atypical cells in my right breast the year before, so I wasnt so surprised at this) and Invasive Ductal Carcinoma in my left. I called to make an appointment to meet with my oncologist who had done the previous breast surgery before I even told anyone else. It was at that appointment, that I decided to have a bilateral mastectomy, due to the fact I had already had issues with the atypia, and she thought this would be a yearly thing. I had my bilateral mastectomy with DIEP flap reconstruction on May 7, 2013. DIEP flap reconstruction uses the material from your belly, and moves it to replace the breast tissue that was removed during the mastectomy. This, I felt, was the best option as I would have my own breasts and get a free tummy tuck as my silver lining :-) Its funny how once the news of having cancer sinks in, everything shifts, and instead of seeing all that has just gone wrong, you start noticing everything that is going just right, and this was one of those just right things. I was in the ICU for 5 days and out of work for 3 months. My cancer was Stage I, Grade 2 and had not spread based on the pathology taken from the surgery. I was Estrogen positive, Progesterone positive and Her-2 negative. Based on this, I did not need chemotherapy or radiation. It was suggested that I take Tamoxifen for five years as a preventative measure, but I declined. If you would have told me years ago that I would someday be diagnosed with breast cancer, resulting in the loss of both of my breasts, I would never have thought I could have endured it. Ironically, this has made me who I am today, and as a result, I have a sort of gratefulness for that. Cancer makes you see the world in a whole different light. With it, I gained a whole new perspective on life, a group of super strong Sistas, breasts that wont ever sag, and something to compare those this is the worst day of my life days to. I know now that every day is a gift. Having cancer reminded me to open this gift of life, specifically made just for me, each day, and LIVE. faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable and receives the impossible. ~ corrie ten boom
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 11:00:01 +0000
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