Woman moved to new state, new job and a new reality with cancer diagnosis
My journey of being diagnosed with Stage 3B Breast Cancer:
I moved to Lincoln, Neb., to live with my baby brother and his family. I just wanted to try a new place. I moved to Nebraska in May 2013.
I give myself regular self-breast exams and I thought I did that earlier in the month of May, but I can’t be sure. I noticed a lump in my left breast at the end of May. I had just moved to a new city and I did not have insurance. I did some research and found a program called “Every Woman Matters.” I called and set up an appointment for my yearly physical.
As far as I was concerned, along with the doctor, I had a cyst. I was sent to have a mammogram and then I had a biopsy and the doctor drained the “cyst” because even he thought it was just a “cyst” but he decided to send the findings off and have them tested.
A week later the “cyst” was diagnosed as Invasive Ductal Carcinoma—big words. I’m still thinking it’s a cyst. When the doctor told me that I was diagnosed with breast cancer and that I had an appointment with a surgeon in two days, I knew this was serious. You never get an appointment with a surgeon in two days unless it’s URGENT.
So, I’m smiling during this and the doctor, she asks me if I understand what she has said. I’m saying “yes,” but honestly she could have given me the winning lottery numbers and all I heard was “blah, blah, blah,” or something close to the adults off of the Charlie Brown shows.
Needless to say, my concern was who was going to pay for this, as I did not have insurance. I was in a new town, had a new job and I was part-time at this job, so I wasn’t eligible for insurance. I applied for Nebraska Breast Cancer Medicaid and was approved. Then, the testing really began. Remember that appointment with the surgeon? Well, I met with his nurse practitioner Kelly, such a wonderful lady.
The first thing on the agenda was to determine the size and it was measuring about 10 cm, pretty big. I was sent to Nebraska Hematology and Oncology where I saw Dr. Avery, who by the way did his undergrad studies at the same college as my baby brother and he remembered my baby brother whose nickname was Goldie because during that time, my brother had dyed his hair blonde. It truly is a small world. Anyway, back to my story. So I was sent for more tests than I can count. I was scanned, drank more strange things so I could be scanned some more, had an MRI, PET scan, bone scan and brain scan. I told my mom I should glow in the dark.
After all that, everything was confirmed and my treatment was started. I would have four cycles of chemo to be administered every three weeks. My treatments were on Wednesdays and I would be there from about 9 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m., depending on how everything went.
I will say this—my brother and his now ex-wife Tiffany were with me every step of the way. They took turns and I never had to go to an appointment alone. I completed all my treatments and the last treatment sent me to the hospital with kidney failure and I spent a lovely two days in the hospital. All is well and I don’t have to undergo dialysis, but I do have to baby my kidneys from this point on.
So after that, I had a biopsy to try and detect if any cancer cells would be found in my lymph nodes. If so, I would have to undergo radiation. If not, I would have the mastectomy and reconstruction and go from there. There was no cancer found in my lymph nodes and my oncologist said that I had this spot on my right breast. It was biopsied and found to be non-cancerous, but it responded to chemo. So, he said it would be beneficial to have a bi-lateral mastectomy.
I agreed and that was scheduled for about a week before Thanksgiving. I was cleared by the surgeon and plastic surgeon to undergo the mastectomy and reconstruction. I am so blessed to have been able to have the mastectomy and reconstruction done at one time. I had the surgery and all went well.
During this time I realized that I did not like being 12 hours away from my mother and after I was cleared, I moved back to Texarkana and I’m glad to say that I’m four years cancer free.
I’m so thankful to Nebraska Medicaid, Dr. Avery and all those at St. Elizabeth’s hospital for the care and treatment that I received. Dr. Avery originally had me diagnosed with Stage 3A, but after all my testing and biopsies, my stage was moved up to 3B. I’m so happy I didn’t find this out until after all my treatments and surgery were completed.
All my hair fell out, but it grew back black, thicker and coarser than ever. I consider myself blessed as I know some women are permanently bald after their treatments. My body is forever changed and I have a scar that forever tells a story, my story or just a chapter in my life. I would rather not have gone through that, but I received a breast reduction, at least that’s how choose to look at it.
I am the mother of two beautiful daughters, JayLan Howard and Kristian Howard and the grandmother of four granddaughters and three grandsons.
As far as I know, no one in my family has been diagnosed with breast cancer. I had the genetic test and I do not carry the gene.
I will say this, I was in the right place for what I needed. I know God took care of me and I’m blessed to be here. I would like to let the ladies know to check yourself and have that mammogram.
Know your body. Because the earlier you find there is a problem, the earlier it can be taken care of and if you are newly diagnosed, don’t panic. Get a strong support system and take a day and do something you like and declare that day no-cancer-talk day. I know this may sound crazy, but you will be the better for it.