| 07/24/08 08:51 AM |
#277
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Cyndi Jones (Sweger)
Hi everyone .. this is only my 2nd post, so I’ve been playing catch up. I got a call lastnight from Gina Perez to check the boards since a discussion is going on about cancer. If anyone has read my profile, you will see that I was diagnosed in January with Stage 1 breast cancer. It was the annual mammogram that found it, and no, I never knew it was there. The tumor was very small, less than 1cm, and even once I knew where it was, it still wasn’t able to be felt. To say my world was turned upside down, is an understatement. My past 6 years have gone like this, in 2002 my mother was diagnosed and died of lung cancer. Two years later we retired from the military and moved to Virginia, a month later, my father was hospitalized and died 3 days after Christmas from complications of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. In 2 years time, I lost the 2 most important figures in my life. Our family has never been the same. The year after we moved to VA, our son graduated and enlisted in the Army. No surprise for us, he grew up in a military family, so it was truly only natural. But being an only child, it was difficult to let him go, no matter how proud we are of him. He has not been in 3 years, recently re-enlisted for 4 more and is in Iraq for his 2nd tour of duty. He is all of 21 and has seen more unimaginable things than most of us could think of. In 2006 while Nik was in Iraq the first time, Mike (my husband) had a near fatal motorcycle accident. We spent 17 days in the surgical traum ICU and 10 in orthopedics, followed by 30 days in inpatient rehab. It was bad enough they sent Nik home from Iraq. Mike is fully recovered and back on a motorcycle again. Dumb man. This year, Nik went back and as he came home for pre-deployment leave, was given the news of my breast cancer. It has been a long road, not horribly bumpy and near as horrible as many women have gone through with the treatments. Today marks 8 weeks that I have been finished with my chemo and even after 8 weeks, I am still having some of the side effects. They were not near as terrible as many I know, so trust me I am not complaining. I opted to do the lumpectomy, followed by 4 chemo treatments 3 weeks apart, then finish up with 30 daily treatments of radiation to the breast. I am down to 8 more radiation treatments and again, although one slightly well done breast, I feel very good and have had a much easier time than I would have dreamed of. The only side effect that was truly horrible for me is the finger nails. All of my finger nails are lifting and on the verge of coming off. They do not hurt, but I work in an office and my hands are very much a part of my job. I can live w/o my hair until it grows back, heck, I shaved it off myself when it started coming out. Its hair, it’ll grow back and actually is growing back as I type.
I will second the comment from Sonja, do your yearly mammograms. Don’t miss them, no matter how uncomfortable they are, how embarrassing or whatever excuse we women can come up with to avoid them. Its not worth it and they can literally save your life and tatas. My heart goes out to anyone dealing with cancer, of any sort. It’s a difficult journey and one that no one should have to travel alone. Thankfully, my family has been a great source of mental support although they are still in Arkansas and my husband has been very supportive as well. He was not a great chemo buddy, so was replaced by one of my girlfriends here. I will say from experience, its amazing how much inner strength you find when you need to.
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