LOSING THIS BATTLE WAS NOT AN OPTION

My journey begins in February 2014. It all started when I noticed a stinging pain in my right breast after my girls would give me a hug. I already had an appointment set up the following week for my yearly physical, and when I mentioned the pain to my doctor she suggested I have a mammogram, which then led to a biopsy. The next day (Valentine’s Day), with my husband by my side, I found out I had breast cancer. I was 38 years old, a wife and mother of 3 girls ages 14, 12 and 8. The news was shocking. I was young and I had no family history of breast cancer. It absolutely broke my heart when I had to tell my daughters. The memory of that moment is still very painful for me. They had seen too much cancer in their lives already. Their paternal Grandfather at that time was in and out of the hospital with advanced prostate cancer. He ended up passing away in the middle of my treatments, and they lost their paternal Grandmother to metastatic breast cancer in 2009. One week after my diagnosis I had a double mastectomy. I had a two cm. tumor with no lymph nodes affected, classified as Stage 2 Invasive Cancer. The next month I started 4 rounds of chemo, and on December 3, 2014, I had my final reconstruction surgery. My tumor was ER+ so I will take tamoxifen for at least five years. Since I have three daughters, I decided to do the BRCA test. My test was negative for the BRCA gene. I would not have made it through this journey without my husband. From the very beginning, he made sure I knew that we were in this together, and that we would beat it. He was at every appointment, and now every follow-up appointment. I also have a strong faith and prayed a lot. The opposite of fear is faith, and I chose faith. God has truly blessed me with lots of wonderful people. I am forever grateful for the love, support, and prayers from my family and friends, and especially my parents. I can honestly say that my cancer journey has made me a better mom, a better wife, a better person. There is nothing that I take for granted anymore, and the littlest of things bring me joy. I make sure I treasure every moment with my husband and daughters. They are mine and I am not ready to give them up. Losing this battle was simply not an option. I will grow old with my husband, and I will get to see the amazing young ladies that I know my daughters will become.