Strength in the family

Keri,

Your family shows such strength and courage. What a blessing that your mother did not have a diagnosis of cancer. You being strong for your family and giving your grandmother,aunt, and cousin support and encouragement is such a blessing. They are fortunate to have you in the family. You are right. We have to be strong for all surivors out there that might need our strength to get them through the day.

Amy

In 2008, my grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was detected very early, so we knew she had a chance. She had a lumpectomy, and they discovered that they didn't get it all. So she went in for another lumpectomy. After that one they discovered once again, that they didn't get it all. They then gave her the option to try another lumpectomy, or to just have a mastectomy of her left breast. It was a long, difficult, decision for her, but she decided to go through with the mastectomy. Her surgery was 14 hours; it was the longest day of my life. It was hard to see all of my family there and just hoping that everything went OK. We got the news that she was OK, and we went back to see her in recovery. She was still waking up from the anesthesia, so she was a little groggy. I was talking to her and she seemed to be aware of what was going on. She then asked her nurse for some crackers and iced tea. She didn't have to go through chemo, or radiation afterwards. To this day, she still tells me that I am the first one she remembers seeing when she woke up from her surgery, and that makes me feel so good. Three months to the day, after my grandma was diagnoses, her daughter was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was about to go through what my grandmother, her mom just went through. My aunt had a lumpectomy, and she also had to have chemo and radiation. She lost all of her hair, so she bought 2 wigs. She was afraid to show us her bald head and she didn't want her little grand babies to see her without hair either. One day we were at my grandma’s house for a visit and my aunt took off her wig, and I just looked at her in awe. She barely had any hair, but she was still as beautiful as ever. I knew that she took that wig off, not because she wanted to, but because she knew her hair was coming back; she was getting better. My cousin just had a breast cancer scare. She hadn't been in for a mammogram in a few years, but now that 2 women of our family had been diagnosed, she decided to go get one. All was clear. About 2 months ago I get a phone call from my dad, he tells me my mom has to go get checked for breast cancer because they found a lump. I am up at school, and my dad told me not to worry, that everything would be fine, but naturally, I was a wreck. That was all I could think about, and I couldn't wait to get home to see her. I went with her to the hospital they day she got re-checked, and they found that it wasn't cancer, it was just a mass and they are going to keep it under close watch. In all of the sadness, and devastating diagnoses in the past year or so, I would just like to say that I am strong. I am strong for my family, my loved ones, and also I am strong for every woman out there. This can come up on you when you least expect it, but if you just have hope, and believe that everything will be OK, then it will. You have to be strong, ALWAYS, because you never know who is watching and who might need a little bit of your strength to get them through the day.

There is hope...keep your faith and love your life!

Amanda,

What a blessing to have your grandmother in your life. She sounds like such a fighter. She gives us all inspiration to fight through our own battles in life. I hope you are able to create many more memories with her.

Amy

Hello my name is Amanda and my Grandmother, Agnes, is truly amazing. She is definitely one of a kind. She is nothing short of a hero in my eyes. Sadly she has had breast cancer ever since I can remember. She has gone through treatments to help her throughout the years. It has been a bumpy road for her however I have never once heard her complain. She lives life as if tomorrow is another day. She always surrounds herself with family which is the best medicine for anything! Unfortunately throughout the years the cancer went into her bones. She got a little weak and wasn’t as strong when she got up to walk but again didn’t stop her from living and loving her life. About three years ago she was admitted into the hospital because she ended up getting sepsis from her immune system being low (for all of you who don’t know this is when bacteria get into your blood stream. The amount of people who pull through sepsis is very low.) She was in the hospital for three months but I can happily say she pulled through it! It was a miracle. Like I said when you have family and faith anything can happen. When I look back it seems like it was one thing after another for her yet she always pulled through. She actually inspired me in my own life to fight through some of my battles. When things get tough I just think about what she has been through and how she fought through it. My words to anyone fighting this battle with breast cancer is, I know it is tough but never give up and always fight through it. Surround yourself with the people that love you and have a little faith. To put my story in perspective I am almost 25 years old. My grandmother is 67 years old and I am truly happy to have her around. I gave birth to my son November 18th of 2008. She was so happy to be able to help birth him and told me it was the highlight of her life! Without faith none of this could have been possible. There is hope you just have to keep your faith and keep love in your life.

Amanda

For the love of my grandmother

Stevey,

It is so touching to hear you talk about your grandmother. The best news of all is that she is doing so well. It is also so encouraging that at your age you are bringing awareness to the fight against breast cancer. I hope and pray that there is a cure in our lifetime.

May your grandmother continue to have many healthy, happy years ahead of her.

Amy

My grandmother, Elizabeth, had breast cancer and was a breast cancer suvivor.

When she first got it, it was shocking. It's one of them moments where you don't expect something that drastic to happen to you or to someone you love. But it did, she had breast cancer on both sides. She had to go through chemotherapy and radiation. It was scary at first. We weren't sure that the treatments were working, it was already bad enough that we caught it at a bad stage. But all of our prayers went through and my grandmother survived. My grandmother is now 72 years old and very healthy..

My name is Stevey and I am 17 years old. I wanted to post this blog to let anyone with breast cancer know there is hope. And for females who don't have breast cancer, get interested about the situation it's serious. Go to the doctor for regular check-ups and even if you can't get to a doctor do regular self check ups. Be IN THE KNOW.

-Thank You For Letting Me Share.