I was diagnosed September 25, 2002. After three years of having aspiration done on my breast. After that I was in a 6-month trial study with the hopes that the tumor would shrink - it did not shrink. In March of 2003, I had a partial mastectomy and they did not get all the cancer. A week later I had a full mastectomy. I took four rounds of chemo, lost all my hair - that didn't bother me because I didn't like waiting in a beauty parlor -, then I had 6-weeks of radiation. I was blessed with radiation - I had no scars, no burns, no anything. During the chemo, I was tired (regular things) but my appetite increased (that was a good thing). I only had severe nausea one time (that was because I ate a whole cant elope that day).
Other than that, I didn't. When I was diagnosed it was a shock, and for maybe a month I walked around in a daze like, "this can't be true." One of the people who actually helped me come to realization that this was not a death sentence... was my boss. He grew up going to church and he confessed he's not really a Christian but he believes in God. I was scheduled to go to a conference in January, so I went to him and I told him. I only told 4-5 people (my boss, supervisor, girlfriend, and my cousin). I always wanted to take care of people; I didn't want anyone to worry about me. He said to me, "You are going. You talk like you think you're going to die." When I got back from the trip in January, my mom was in the hospital and I didn't want to tell her. At this point, I knew I needed to tell my family.
I got all my family and told them. My son didn't take it well; he immediately ran out. That was one of my biggest concerns: how they would take it. When I went to see my mom (it's something about moms; they know things). When I finally did tell her she said, "Why did you keep this from me?" I said, "I didn't want to worry you." She said, "I wouldn't have been worrying, I would've been praying." I got a lot of positive feedback from her. I had a good support team.
