Monday, May 5, 2014

My Breast Cancer Journey Pt. 1





In August of 2013 I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. I was 38 years old with a husband, six children and my entire life ahead of me. All I knew is that I didn't want to die and leave my husband and children alone.

After being tested to see was I carrier of the BRCA gene (which I was not), I decided to have a lumpectomy instead of a mastectomy because the cancer was not that big.  It took a couple of surgeries to remove it all with clear margins, but they did. Within a month of my last surgery I was on my way down the chemo road.

All I knew about chemo were the horror stories that I had heard from other people.  I heard your hair falls out, you throw up, you are sick all of the time, etc. I was determined not to let somebody else's reality become mine.  I went into chemo with the expectation that God was going to meet me there and that I would come out on top. After 6 rounds of chemo I am pleased to share with you that I did not throw up a single time, I was not nauseaous,  and I was not sickly. I was however tired after the last 3 rounds, and my hair did fall out.  Considering what my outcome could have been, I'm thankful to God that my outcome was favorable.  Throughout this journey I have come to the conclusion that it is not what happens to you, but it is how you deal with it that will determine your outcome.

Tomorrow I start my first round of radiation therapy. I'm hopeful that I will breeze through it just as I did the chemo treatments, because with God ALL things are possible.

2 comments:

  1. <3 So admirable to write openly and from the heart. You will be in my thoughts & prayers. So glad we reconnected!

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  2. Thanks for the encouragement Jenn! Positive thoughts and prayers have been the wind beneath my wings on this journey.

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