With Breast Cancer Comics by Dash Shaw
I was diagnosed with Stage One breast cancer in May 2006. I was showering one day and felt a lump that was not there the day before. Ok, I was scared. I regret that I blew off getting my mammogram in 2005.
I went to the E.R. and was told it felt like and therefore was probably a cyst--not to worry. I did worry and made an appointment with my doc to get checked out further. A mammogram and several ultrasounds later..oh, and let's not forget the "Good Luck" I got from the Ultrasound Tech as I exited the building after my last ultrasound, I knew it was probably something serious.
Oh, the cyst was still a cyst and was getting smaller, but they had found a lesion behind that cyst. After a biopsy, I was told it was cancer. I truly believe a higher power put that cyst there so my cancer could be found. Twenty-four hours later, that cyst was gone.
I was then 48, a single mom of two 'in their 20's' daughters and I was scared. No family history of breast cancer and other than a bout with a small skin cancer on my nose years before, which was excised and healed nicely, I thought I was healthy. Determined to get through this, I only cried in the shower. But after my surgery to remove the lesion and finding out it had not spread to my lymph nodes, I then decided that I was me. Cancer was NOT going to define who I was.
I started chemotherapy just after my boyfriend of 6 yrs had taken a new job in Oklahoma and left. Family was less than 2 hrs away, but for the most part I was in this alone. I took the hard and fast treatment route, so I could join my sweetheart in Oklahoma. I would go every 3 weeks for my treatment. Funny thing was that once I started feeling better, it would be time to go back in for more.
Due to wonderful drugs they have nowdays to prevent the nausea and vomiting from chemo, I tolerated it better than I thought I would. DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT OTHERS TELL YOU! I was scheduled for 4 treatments.
I started losing my hair within 2 weeks of the first treatment. Tired of the clumps coming out in my brush, I again took control and decided to shave it off rather than wait for it to get to that point on its own. Hey, luckily I had a good looking bald head and not some pointed crown of skin. After my second chemo treatment, I decided that I was in charge and I discontinued my treatments and took back my life. If God wanted me to die, it was in his hands. But I took back the quality of my life. I ate candied ginger for the slight nausea I felt, and took up a healthier diet of fresh anything and everything.
My radiation started 2 weeks later. I went 5 days a week for 6 weeks. By this time baseball caps were my friend and the only way I could get through a shipping trip or an appointment. People tend to stare. But hey, bald women are not the norm!!
My breast grew red and sore over time, and was still swollen from my surgery. My armpit too.
