Friday, June 01, 2012
Yuyu
  • Yuyu
    is Breast Cancer Survivor
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA, United States
  • Gender: Female
  • Birthday: May 12, 1974
  • Bio: Inflammatory Breast Cancer Survivor
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HEALTH INTERESTS:

inflammatory breast cancer,  mastectomy,  breast reconstruction,  tamoxifen,  lupron

DRUGS I AM TAKING:

Tamoxifen,  Lupron

ABOUT ME:

I was diagnosed with Inflammatory Breast Cancer in 2008 when I was 34 year old. I noticed hardness in my breast one day. I went to see a doctor and was told that I had breast infection. It did not get better after a few weeks of anti-biotic. Meanwhile, I had a gut feeling that it was not infection but something more serious. While trying to convince my doctor to further investigate my breast and getting runarounds from him for a few more weeks, my breast became much bigger and a tumor had become solid hard. The doctor still tried to tell me that it was not cancer since I am "too young" and have no family history of cancer. The doctor sent me for biopsy "just in case", and that's how I found out that I had Inflammatory Breast Cancer. By the time I was finally diagnosed, the tumor had grown so big to the size of a tennis ball. I was told that my type of cancer is very aggressive and the chance of survival is slim. I was told that I had about 6 months. I was devastated. I do not have any family or relatives in this country, so that means I would have to go through this all alone. I was scared. I was quickly put on chemotherapy to see if it will work on shrinking my cancer so that they can do a surgery. My oncologist was great, and she did everything she could to put me on the best chemo possible. I went through approximately 6 months of chemotherapy with various drugs (Taxotere, Carboplatin, weekly taxol, 5FU, Cytoxan, Epirubicin, and Herceptin). There were a lot of trials and errors with chemo drugs since my tumor did not easily shrink with chemo drugs. In February 2009, I finally had a surgery. My tumor was still big, so they decided that it was time to remove the breast. I had radical mastectomy with lymph nodes removal. I wanted to have immediate reconstruction of breast badly, but I was not able to due to various risks. They wanted me to wait for at least a few years before reconstruction. When biopsy was done on my removed breast a few days after the surgery, they only found dead cancer cells. No active cancer cell was found. I was declared "cancer-free" and "in full remission". I completed 6 weeks of radiation and 6 more months of Herceptin injection. I now take Tamoxifen and Lupron to prevent recurrence. I am still adjusting to new reality as a young breast cancer survivor. I wear a prosthesis on my chest which can make me feel self-conscious sometimes. I suffer from terrible menopausal symptoms which include hot flushes and night sweats. I am also trying to digest the fact that I cannot be pregnant due to high risk of recurrence. At first, I thought that this was the worst thing that could happen in my life. But, now I can honestly say that it was a blessing because it has taught me what's important in my life and to treasure every moment I have. I was happy to find so much support from friends and even strangers that I did not feel so alone going through treatment. I made many friends while going through it, and I feel that the experience made me a better and strong person overall.

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