SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- It was time for my yearly mammogram and I scheduled an appointment early in the morning.
Next thing I remember is receiving a call from my primary care manager’s office telling me I needed to go back for more films.
I remember the receptionist saying they do this all the time, and I convinced myself that I really had none of the risk factors to have breast cancer.
I never smoked, rarely drank, breast fed both of my children until they were 12 months old and I had just had a breast exam at my gynecologist’s office.
Well the films said something else and so did the radiologist and the nurse case manager.
I had just started a new job, and I could not believe this was happening.
I called my husband and said, “We cannot tell anyone else until we know everything.” That worked for me. It gave me time to think and decide what to do without everyone asking me what I was going to do.
Once I knew what the plan was, I put it all down on a calendar and looked at each event as something to cross off and move on to the next one.
Losing my hair was tough and so were some of the treatments, but the love that I felt from family, friends and strangers was incredible and something I will never forget.
Love really and truly does conquer everything, even breast cancer.