October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and I would like to share our family journey with this terrible disease. I was probably in 4th or 5th grade when I first remember hearing the word Breast Cancer. My grandmother (my fathers mother)had Breast cancer around the age of 60. She have a mastectomy and some treatment. No one else on my fathers side has had Breast cancer since. There have been people that I know that have had Breast cancer. My husbands mother Louise had Breast cancer in her forties and died from it at the age of 57. There was no family history. 6 1/2 years ago breast cancer reared its ugly head again, this time my mom. She was diagnosed at the age of 74. It was found with a mammogram. She had a mastectomy and took a pill everyday for 5 years. No family history outside of her grandmother. 5 years ago at the age of 41 my sister Mona Robinson Dvorak was diagnosed with Breast Cancer with her very first mammogram. My sister cancer was aggressvie, fast growing. She had a bilateral mastectomy and Both hers and my moms could not be felt. I had a base line mammogram at the age of 35 and at the age of 41 started having one every other year. When my sister was diagnosed I started having a mammogram every year. In November of 2010, I had a yearly exam will my Gyn. Clean bill of health. On January 3, 2011, I had a mammogram. It came back normal. Imagine my surprise when I found a lump the middle of that month. I kept a eye on it. It was still there the end of February. I made an appointment with Gyn. She didnt think it was anything to be to concerned about, but with my mom and sister having had Breast cancer she had me get a ultrasound. It show that there was indeed something there that needed to be seen by a surgeon. Instead of a needle biopsy the surgeon took the lump out. He told me he didnt think it was cancer. Well guess what, it was! Mine was aggressive. I asked why it did not show up on any mammograms. I was told by my surgeon that I had dense breast tissue and the cancer would not have show up. That was the first time I heard that. On April 18, 2011 I had A bilateral mastectomy and will take tamoxifen for 10 years. In June of this year, my sister Gina Kittle was diagnosed with breast cancer. She is taking hormone therapy. My sisters and I had gene testing and we do not have the breast cancer gene. More and more younger women are diagnose every day. Ask questions about your Breast tissue. Get mammograms. DO YOUR SELF BREAST EXAMINE! Dont miss out on your kids or grandchildren lives. Be proactive about your health. Just because you dont have a family history doesnt mean you can not get it. It has to start somewhere.
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 02:19:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015