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Battling Breast Cancer - Any Help is Appreciated!

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My life with Cancer unknowingly  begin in June when I noticed a large lump in my breast.  A lump that was thought to be a hematoma wouldn’t be scanned until the middle of August.  I spent my summer worried and waiting until I went to the hospital in pain one Thursday night.  The mammogram and ultrasound were completed within 5 days and that Friday I was informed of two additional lumps, one in my lymph node and the one in my breast with a small one hiding behind it.  My stomach dropped and everything since then is a bit of a blur.  I’m a wife and mom of a spunky 11 year old girl.  I had worked full time as a department manager at Walmart.  Anyone who has worked at Walmart know I just couldn’t stock shelves anymore with the pain in my side.   The next Friday was the biopsies.  I spent another weekend recovering from the pain of the three biopsies they completed and the words of the nurse practitioner in my head telling me she was concerned and to be prepared for a hard call.   She called me Tuesday morning and informed me that the lymph node came back negative.  This immediately told me what I feared; the two in my breast were positive.  Within two days I was meeting the Dempsey Center and the surgeon who informed me a mastectomy, even double is the probable outcome after a couple months of aggressive Chemotherapy.  My body was not going to help with any of the process she informed me and I learned my cancer was a stage 2 triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma.   I left the breast center with a large binder and four appointments scheduled the next day.  To say I was overwhelmed is a complete understatement.  The following morning I arrive for the first of 4 appointments; the breast MRI.  Because of my appointment the day before I was unable to complete my screening call, so the possibility of me being pregnant became a problem.  Almost four draining hours passed of being in one office or another. I grew so anxious I snuck away to the Dempsey Center and spoke with a therapist to recenter.  The breast center kept calling for me to come back for a blood test so I grudgingly returned.  My next appointment was a bone scan.  They also informed me that the appointment would be moved back due to the blood test.  I was then advised to go to the hospital to see someone concerning my anxiety.  It was here that the doctor once again required a pregnancy test to treat my anxiety.  By this point I’m finding it humerus, knowing the odds of me being pregnant.   Ill never forget him telling me it was positive. My husband and I just kept telling him no and laughing.  Once it sank in, it really sank in.  Here my life was hijacked by breast cancer three days earlier and now I sit on another Friday, the 13th actually, being told we finally did it but not knowing what this meant now at all.  I asked the doctor but he said my team would need to regroup.   Once again I’ve sat here another weekend with no answers of what the next week will hold.  I sit in denial that I will be entering those same doors again tomorrow morning with no idea of what I will learn next.  I have no control over this.  I float through each day aware of what is happening but completely powerless Everyone hates to ask for help and I completely understand and feel the same.  I myself have been too proud at times to ask when I need it and at other times been too childish and spoiled and could’ve/should’ve done it myself.  I am humbling myself to realize this is bigger than I can control.  I appreciate you taking the time to read our story and appreciate any assistance to help me help keep things on track to helps handle this as best we can.

Organizer

Elizabeth Gifford
Organizer
Bethlehem, AR

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