Why I Am Blogging

I never in a gazillion years would have thought I would be blogging about my experiences. For one, I always thought a certain "type" blogged. More importantly, I figured nobody really cared what I was going through. I was wrong about both.

After being diagnosed with breast cancer in February, 2009, my world completely changed. My diagnosis completely took me by surprise. I suppose a large part was due to the fact that I was 33 at the time of my diagnosis, and felt very much young and invincible. I was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Ductal Carcinoma in situ (DCIS), and metastatic axillary lymph node, which in plain language means that two types of cancer were found in the milk ducts of my left breast and had spread to my lymph nodes under my left arm.

At the age of 33 I found myself, a mother of two children in a difficult long-term relationship, facing breast cancer treatment. I endured 16 weeks of chemotherapy (and lost all my hair), a mastectomy, and 25 daily sessions of radiation. None of it was easy, but for the sake of my kids, if not for myself, I had to keep going. I am now looking at reconstruction surgery and taking a daily drug to try to prevent the recurrence of this cancer.

Now that I have made it through the worst of it, I feel like I can share my insights, for anyone who is going through it themselves, or even for someone who is supporting a loved one fighting cancer. It has been a difficult journey, and it isn't over, but I feel like I have gotten used to the struggle, and that makes it a little easier.