PRESENT

Dr. Q took me to the other side of the building. It is a center were they do all the radiation therapy. After a short conference of the course of events she took me to get prepped for treatment. I walked into a large room with a machine like a cat scan in the middle. I had a gown on, I was asked to remove the gown and lay down on the table. There were people coming in and out of the room. First they marked me with a pen. They then told me they were going to tattoo me. As tears flowed down the sides of my face they proceeded with what they needed to do. The next part was a bit unexpected. They told me they were going to make a mold of my face. With a warm plastic they molded my face this would be used for every treatment. The treatments from the time I came in took anywhere from 45min to an hour. My 5 weeks of hell was just getting started.

PAST

My sister went into full commando mode. She started searching the Internet for information on breast cancer. We knew nothing about the disease. It wasn't in our family history and 20 years ago it was still called the C word. We were all devastated, but Debbie set out to find the best doctors and the best new treatments. I thank God everyday for Debbie. Luckily my sister Janet also went into full gear mode. She knew an famous actress who had come public with her diagnoses. She was able to get the name of her general surgeon and was able to get me an appointment with him. After meeting with other general surgeons it wasn't hard for me to decide on him Dr. A. I remember his hands were so gentle and his bed side manner so calming. The plan was a lumpectomy with a lymph node dissection and 6 weeks of radiation to follow. My tumor was small less than a centimeter and it had not inter my lymph nodes. I had a great prognoses. I didn't have to run anymore. I could live a long wonderful life with my girls and my husband.