Health History

About the time I was 42 Years old, I found a lump in my right breast. I got it monogrammed and sonogrammed (I think that's the name of the test-it's the one where they smear K-Y jelly on you and the rub some instrument on the spot and it tells them something). The lump was declared benign. This went on for several years. By then, I had changed Dr's, because Trudy was taking my first grandchild, Forrest, to see a GP Earnest Hendrix. In the course of seeing him, I would get my pap tests done but he didn't send me for a mammogram. When I asked, "Why?", he said his patients complained of the discomfort of the test, so he didn't send them. I should have taken the initiative to ask for one on my own, but I didn't. After 14 years of having this lump, it turned into cancer. I hadn't had a mammogram in 4 years, so if I had insisted on the test, I might have caught it earlier.

When I had gone to Mary Kate's house to help her move some furniture, and I took a shower, I noticed a change in the right breast. After I got home, I went to see Dr. Hendrix. He mashed around on me and didn't find anything but said he usually sent patients to a surgeon if they had any questions, so I saw Dr. Ravi. He did a biosipy(sp) and found cancer. I had to come back to see him to get the stitches out when he told me it was cancer and we made an appointment to remove the breast the next morning. He sent me home without taking the stitches out! I took them out myself, not realizing I was going to loose the entire breast the next day! I was in the hospital 2 days without too much pain and then came home.

That was the 3rd or 4th week of Dec., 2002. By the end of the month, Dr. Ravi put a port in my chest (the place where the needle would be put for the chemotherapy). In Jan. I began taking chemo every three weeks for maybe 6 mo. After that, I had 27 doses of radiation. I had to drive to H'ville 5 days a week for a 12 min. treatment. The chemo and radiation were very debilatating and it has taken me 5 years to get over it, if I have even now. Five years of survival is sort of a bench mark for surviving cancer and I have reached the five year point. I recently had a chest x-ray and it showed a spot on my right lung! I panicked and thought the cancer had come back. I had a CT scan and my oncologist said it was a scar from the radiation! Whew! I guess there will always be scares.

I didn't like the way I looked one sided, so almost a year later, I had the other breast removed. I was relieved because if the cancer did return, it wouldn't have a place to return to! I know it can come back anywhere but I like being flat chested, when I want to be.

If I have any advice to give, it would be to have any lump removed! Benign or not, it can always turn into cancer, so be on the safe side. It's your body. Take care of it. Have all lumps removed. Don't take a chance. Nothing is worth the agony you will go through if it turns out to be cancer. Yes, if caught earily, it can be removed and the chances to it coming back are slim, but why take that chance if you can avoid it. I'm Jan Layton, and I approve of this epistle.