Breast Cancer Awareness Month: A Survivor’s Story
Each October, our country turns a shade of pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It shines a light on a cancer that affects the lives of people around the world. According to breastcancer.org, “About 1 in 8 U.S. women (about 12%) will develop invasive breast cancer over the course of her lifetime. In 2020, an estimated 276,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed in women in the U.S., along with 48,530 new cases of non-invasive (in situ) breast cancer.”
Unless we have personally experienced breast cancer, we cannot understand how it feels. We read the statistics, and we hear about a former classmate or a friend’s wife or mother, but we can’t really know. Here is the story of a breast cancer survivor, Michele. Michele and her husband Jeff have two children who were aged 11 and 12 at the time of diagnosis.
Family History Matters 
Michele’s family history of breast cancer includes both grandmothers, her mother, and great aunts. The doctors diagnosed Michele’s mother at age 53 with cancer in one breast, then in the other breast about two years later. Unbelievably, doctors diagnosed Michele at the same age as her mother, age 53. (Michele is currently 57). Given this strong family history, Michele took every step recommended to monitor and detect breast cancer early.
Early Detection
Given her family history, Michele was at high risk. She started getting mammograms when she was 30 years old. Three years before her diagnosis, Michele began to see a breast specialist because of the changes she was having with her mammograms. She would then go every six months for a mammogram and ultrasound. In September of 2015, she went for her usual checkup, and there were no unusual findings. However, by March of 2016, things had changed. Just six months later, through a battery of tests including MRIs and biopsies, she received the call on March 28th, 2016, that she did indeed have Stage 1 Breast Cancer.
Treatment with Surgery
In collaboration with her family and doctors, Michele decided to have a double mastectomy to ensure that any future chance of breast cancer would be gone. Michele explained: “Going into it, I was only thinking about removing the cancer. That was my focus. When surgery was over, and I woke and saw the bandages, it was then I realized my body was never going to be the same. I had lymph nodes removed. I had and still have nerve damage. I cannot feel my armpits and parts of my upper arm. When the bandages came off, it was very surreal, scary, and sad. Seeing the scars took me back. I had drains hanging from my body. I nicknamed them, “my udders.” My body was all different, but the cancer was now gone. That’s what kept me going and how I knew that I was going to be okay.”
About six months after the double mastectomy, Michele underwent a 3-hour long reconstructive surgery to replace the mastectomy surgery spacers with breast implants. Another major surgery posed significant mental and physical challenges, including another six week recovery period. Still, her motivation was again born from the fact that she knew the cancer was gone.
Michele’s Angels
Michele stated that she needed a lot of help after the surgery. Doctors estimated her recovery to take about 6-8 weeks. She explained, “I could not lift my arms over my head. I needed help with my drains each day. I needed help with my showers and getting dressed for a few weeks. Jeff and the kids were my angels! They all helped with housework, cooking, laundry, everything!”
Thankfully Michele remains cancer-free and will soon be celebrating her five-year anniversary since diagnosis.
How Visiting Angels Gadsden Can Help
As Michele can attest, fighting breast cancer is a marathon, not a sprint. Visiting Angels caregivers can helpf provide physical assistance after surgery for bathing, dressing, meal preparation, laundry, and housework. It is not only our line of business but our honor to assist those fighting breast cancer. If you or someone you know needs assistance during their breast cancer recovery, the compassionate caregivers of Visiting Angels Gadsden can help. Please call us at 256-507-0083 or contact us online today to learn more.