Raw October: raising breast cancer awareness — one fact, figure, feeling, and photograph at a time.
I wrote the following post in October 2005. At the time, I was in the midst of breast cancer treatment.
On Saturday, my mom and I attended a half-day seminar on the topic of breast cancer. It was sponsored by Shands Hospital, and many of the speakers were my own medical people — a surgeon who took my blood prior to my lumpectomy for research purposes, an oncologist who treated me both times I was hospitalized during my first chemo regimen, my physical therapist, and the woman who coordinated my initial care when I was first diagnosed. I already knew a lot about what they talked about, but I learned that there is a lot on the horizon for breast cancer detection and treatment — like new radiation techniques that can limit the treatment time from seven weeks to just one week and methods for detecting the smallest trace of breast cancer before it begins to grow. My physical therapist is studying cancer-related fatigue (I think I have it!) and how to manage it. It amazes me that these medical professionals are spending their work days seeking cures and miracles. What a huge responsibility. What a noble cause. I am lucky to be in their care.
But after hearing about all the science and hope and possibilities, I am reminded mostly of one loud and clear message I heard on this day. The oncologist spoke about the components of breast cancer tumors — there are about six criteria that are taken into consideration when studying a tumor, such as age, stage, grade, lymph node status, hormone receptivity, and HER-2 status. My criteria are: age 34 at diagnosis, stage 1 (out of 4), grade 2 (out of 3), lymph node negative, ER/PR negative, and HER-2 positive. Some of this is good; some not so good — this balance has left me feeling OK about my personal situation. But the oncologist said, “even a good tumor in a young women is a bad tumor.”
I guess I knew this. My age is what qualified me for aggressive treatment — because young women have the most aggressive tumors. But to hear it spoken in a formal teaching setting and in somewhat of a grim tone, is troubling. But I’m OK. I’m not wounded by this bit of information, and I’m not anxious like I once would be. I still feel like I am winning my battle, so I can take this in stride. And if cancer comes back to me one day, I’ll just keep fighting — like this young woman who is quoted in the book “Hope Lives: The After Breast Cancer Treatment Survival Handbook“:
Why do I keep going through treatment when there is no permanent cure? I ask myself this every time. There are no options other than death, which to me is no option. It’s not that I fear death. I really don’t anymore. I just love life too much to quit. It’s a race against time. Treatment buys me time until they come up with new drugs or new ways to treat this illness. I’m not quitting.
—Robin, age 38, diagnosed 1996, 1998, 1999