THIS IS MY STORM!!!
On November 20, 1999 I realized I had a lump in my right breast. This was on a Saturday, so I had to wait until Monday to see the doctor. I went to my OB GYN on Monday and he did a mammogram and said I needed to go to the hospital and have an ultrasound done. During this time, my mom called me at the doctor's office and told me my grandmother had just passed away, so I left the doctor's office and went to the nursing home to comfort my mom and family. At that time, we had no idea what was going on inside my body. I went that afternoon and had the ultrasound...turned out there was suspicious activity in the breast and they wanted me to have a biopsy. They tried to do the biopsy by needle aspiration in the doctor's office but wasn't successful. On December 9th they did the biopsy and confirmed it was breast cancer. On the 27th of December I had a mastectomy. I can still remember what we called then the "blood babies". I went home with them to keep the fluid out of the surgical area. At that time, I had 9 positive lymph nodes and they classified me as Stage IIB Breast Cancer. I went through a series of chemotherapy and found out I am severely allergic to Taxol. Of course, after the chemotherapy, I had a round of radiation for 45 days...the next five years was spent taking Tamoxifen. During this time, I had reconstruction surgery to the right breast, which any woman who has had that done knows how painful that can be.
After being taken off of Tamoxifen because I had survived the five years, I thought my cancer was gone for good. In April of 2006 my back began to hurt really bad. I went to the emergency room on several occasions and they told me it was pleurisy. I continued to hurt and was losing weight quickly; my throat began to feel like it was closing in on me. I went to my regular physician and he ran a series of test on me. He told me the scans came back and showed I had nine sizable tumors in my right lung and several throughout my body. He put me in the hospital for dehydration. He immediately sent the Oncologist in to see me. I was in really bad shape, told my husband to take me home and make me comfortable...the cancer was very advanced. Of course, I said "no way"--we will fight and we did. Started Chemo immediately, but my back was still killing me. My Oncologist began treating me for shingles. Thought that was where my pain was coming from. After many months of chemo and sickness, I went to see a pain management doctor. I thought surely they can help me...I had what is called a pain block...I still don't think childbirth compared to the pain that procedure gave me. Of course, the pain was no better...so I went to a neurosurgeon who found that the cancer had eaten my T1 away and it had collapsed...good reason for all the pain huh ! He scheduled surgery and put in donor bone tissue and placed a titanium plate from my C7 to T2. He said the cancer was wrapped around my spine and was able to remove a small amount of it. I was placed in a neck/back brace and had a hospital bed brought in to my home for comfort. I didn't do everything the doctor said to do, but I did do enough to get through the ordeal.
Next step, of course, was to radiate the tumor wrapped around my spine. I guess things had come a long way since my first experience with radiation because what they planned was very unexpected. They had a face mask that molds to your face and bolts down to the table. It was a total nightmare for me and when I left out after the first visit crying, my husband and I decided there must be something else that can be done.
We had seen the TV commercials about the Cancer Treatment Centers of America and thought we would see what they were about. I was able to get online and chat with them. It was within a very short time, I was scheduled to fly out to Tulsa, Oklahoma and visit with them and see what they thought of my case. Ross and I were both very impressed with the hospital, it was like nothing I had every experienced. It was warm and very welcoming....I still don't know how they do it but they can remember names like no one I know. They set us up with radiology and immediately had a game plan. My first request was they not use the face mask.....not a problem; they had a shoulder mold. That was the best news I'd heard in a while. I stayed and had the treatments and felt really good about the outcome. It's hard to not feel positive around this group from the center.
After all was said and done, I had a hysterectomy and began a regimen of Arimadex. My cancer had been 100% estrogen fed and 70% progesterone fed, so this was a must. That was in May 2007. I have been having Pet Scans every three months since. In September of 2008, I had my first clear scan...no metastatic disease. You can only imagine how excited and thankful to the Lord we were to get that news. We decided to extend the timeframe of my scans by one month, so the next was scheduled for January. Immediately after this scan, my husband and I looked at the films ourselves. We had gotten pretty good at reading them. We knew we saw something that didn't look right; just wasn't for sure. The Oncologist said it could just be inflammation and let's give it three months and see what we look like. Ross and I both were concerned the cancer was returning and awaited the three months for another scan. Once I received this scan and we looked at it; we knew immediately we were looking at another battle.
I immediately called the CTCA and scheduled an appointment but decided we would go and listen to what our own Oncologist had to say. She wanted to give it another two months and let it grow a little bigger so they could get a better reading....my husband was so disgusted he left the room. To say the least, we couldn't wait to get back to the CTCA.
As of this date, I have now battled this cancer five (5) times ! I've had a lot of chemo over the last few years and a lot of radiation....but God has been with me all the way ! I have been able to use my cancer as a ministry to reach people that are sick and tell them how Jesus can heal.
I am on Tamoxifen again....it worked for five (5) years; so maybe it will work again !! I go back in October 2011 to do all of my scans and see how things are going. I have a great support system....
We have all the confidence in the world that we will see a clean scan again one day....as my husband puts it, you can only get better when Jesus is in charge of the hospital you are going to and he walks with us each step of the way!!!
Thanks for all the prayers, cards, food and love shown my family over the years! Now, let's support this very worthy cause....
FYI: The Title comes from a message Brother Dennis Holmes preached when I was very sick….I can still remember most of the words to that sermon….”This is my Storm”…with God holding my hand all the way!!!
Story by Cheryl Harrington
Shawna Long
