My Breast Cancer
Back in 2008, I created a meeshie.com website to share my story with other young women affected by breast cancer. Due to some technical difficulties, that website’s content was erased, and now I have to start from scratch – BOOOOO!. But as I start to write my story over, 4 years have past and a lot has happened in my life. So this version will be much different. I was diagnosed with Stage I breast cancer in 2006, just two weeks before by big “Dirty 30″ birthday. So I’m going on my 6th year of being called a “Survivor”. It’s amazing how much has gone on since that day that I got the call from my Dr. telling me that the lump they removed the day before during the biopsy was actually malignant.
And so the story goes…..
Around March of 2006, My boyfriend at the time felt a hard pea-sized “thing” in my upper left boob. He brought it to my attention and I felt it and said that it must be a popped blood vessel. At the time, I was going to the Boxing Club and dismissed it as something that must have occurred during push-ups in a class. It was so far up on my left boob – it couldn’t possibly be a cyst – because those are found usually under the breast…but I would soon come to find out that I obviously knew nothing about breast cancer.
I was off to Miami for a week with 20 or so friends to the Winter Music Conference (WMC). It was my birthday present to myself – turning Dirty 30! WOOHOO! Yes, I did ask some other girl friends what they thought my hard pea-sized “thing” could be…and all said that I should just go get it checked out – just in case, but that it was most likely just a cyst. Ok, I’ll do it when I get back from Miami…or when I make the appointment, if I remembered.
I remembered…and it’s a good thing I did. Got a mammogram – came back “suspect”, so they said I needed to get an ultra-sound. Got the ultra-sound – the technician said it looked odd and to be safe I should get a biopsy. Got the biopsy – the next day got the call that I had breast cancer.
I was sitting in my room after work when I got the call…I hung up the phone and sat there not knowing how to react to what I was just told. I began to cry…called my Mom and told her quickly then hung up the phone and cried for another 10 minutes. I’m not a “crier” and the only other time I cried was the week after my first chemo session. I was downstairs at my boyfriend’s house blow drying my hair after my shower when clumps of long wavy hair were clinging to my left hand. That’s when I realized that IT – the breast cancer – was this REAL living breathing thing that invaded my body and my life. Then I pulled myself together and decided that from that point on, I was going to “beat this biatch” (breast cancer) and I later named my lump – Lucy the Lump.
It helped me give it some sort of identity. The whole situation was surreal to me at the time. I barely knew anything about breast cancer except that it “only” affected older women…women in their 50′s and 60′s and the one time I looked out my window at work and saw women dressed in pink walking for some breast cancer fund raising cause. HA! Was I naieve and ignorant to a disease that affects thousands of young women each year!
The following posts on this blog are emails that I sent out to all my friends – be sure to read them in order. Going through the chemo made me very tired and weak. But I knew that I had so many supportive friends that wanted to know how I was doing.
Wonderful friends like these (pic below) that walked in a breast cancer walk in my honor!
I’m sharing my story because I want to show other young women that you CAN beat this disease and continue on with your life the way YOU want to…it’s NOT the end of the world unless you allow it to be. Have a positive attitude, talk to other young women who have gone through the healing process, and educate yourself…these simple things will make a HUGE difference in your recovery.
I know one of the issues for us young women having to go through chemo and all the other harsh drugs is the possibility of infertility. I saw a a few doctors about freezing my eggs. It’s so damn expensive!!! I gambled and took my chances. It wasn’t until March 201o that I got pregnant…and not even trying. I share this because I have also known other young women who are Survivors and who have also gotten pregnant. It’s possible!!! Again, think positively! Today, the chemo drugs are advanced and the doctors do try their best to preserve your ovaries.
The pic below is the Susan G. Komen 5K that I’ve done every year since 2006…yes, I’m 8 months pregnant!
I gave birth to Maddox Nguyen Silva on 11/27/2010. He was 8lbs. 7oz, 19″. Healthy baby at that!
I hope by sharing my story, I’m giving you hope and a light at the end of a tunnel that seems pitch black. Don’t let life pass you by because you feel sorry for yourself or feel like it’s the end of the world because IT’S NOT! You think your glass is half empty because YOU turned off the faucet of life…you’re getting a second chance to turn that faucet back on – DO IT so you can fill your half-full glass until until it’s overflowing with life and happiness!!!
Work Hard & Play Harder,
-Meeshie
p.s. Don’t forget to read the emails I sent out to my friends – there’s info on what type of cancer I had and my chemo treatment.
p.p.s Your hair will grow back ;)
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