SURVIVOR ~ Breast Cancer Stage IV

I was only about 3 years old when my Mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer back in 1949. I remember my Dad telling me he was on the road travelling with his job when he received the call and was told he had best come home right away. Now mind you this was the early 50's and radiation was just about the only treatment known in those days...no chemo or drugs we have today. Mom's cancer had spread so rapidly that by the time it was discovered it was already inoperable. And no Dr. would even consider operating in the early 50's with a case so progressed.

I unfortunately do not have good memories of my Mom when I was little as I just tend to remember all the bad things, her suffering for almost three years, the morphine shots my Dad gave to her around the clock, not being able to sit on her bed as this caused the slightest movement and pain for her. When my Mom died I remember all the family members saying she was no longer suffering and hurting and now that I look back on it I realized her pain and suffering had ceased and ours had just began. My Dad was absolutely lost with two little girls and being Mr. Mom and Dad to both of us. My sister was 14 so she was a big help. After four years my Dad remarried a much younger lady and I am still very close to my stepmom to this day. This marriage produced a son, my younger brother, who by the way is an MD in North GA. You see our Mom (my stepmom) also had a bout of breast cancer and I spent several weeks up there helping take care of her during her recovery. She had a radical masectomy and her lymph nodes removed under her left arm but she is alive today and doing well and is still in remission thank heaven!

I started with a baseline mammo at age 33 and have been having one every year with sonograms sometimes also. I have very dense fatty tissues in the breasts and they just want to be sure they are not missing anything! I have had several biopsies and lumpectomies and all were benign. I live in constant fear of inheriting breast cancer so I do what I can to get the word to others how important it is to take care of yourself and check the breasts for any signs of irregularities!

I would like to dedicate this to all of you with Stage IV Breast Cancer and to my Mother, Essie B. Cochran in hopes that one day soon a CURE will be found not only for the prevention of cancer but a cure for the ones already diagnosed with bc! God Bless you all! You are all very strong and brave fighters! Keep up the great work!

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