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Breast cancer treatment and the working woman

11/02/10

In Sept 2005 I went in for a lumpectomy/biopsy on my left breast. I was assured that the lump was too big to be cancer…probably. I was totally unprepared for the malignant result when I woke up from surgery. One week later I was back in the hospital having a modified radical masectomy. I had just turned 38 years old! I had three teenage children: 13, 15 and 17. I had an almost one year old granddaughter! This could not be happening, right?

I was off work for two weeks. I began chemotherapy two weeks after returning to work. I lost my hair about 10 days after that first treatment. It fell out in clumps…I could not even lean my head against the back of the couch for fear it would leave large masses of hair everywhere. Losing my hair was probably the worst…I am not vain or pretty, but it really takes a toll to see yourself with no softness around the face. I ended up having 8 rounds of chemo, two weeks apart for each one. A month after chemo was completed, I took 33 treatments of radiation. That is a daily ordeal-I only got the weekends and Memorial Day off during that time. I went every morning before going in to work.

I was a ‘lucky’ one. I only got nausea about 4 of the eight times, and was able to schedule most of the treatments on a Friday to give my body the weekend to recover. The radiation did not hurt, and they were very good about getting me in/out to ensure I got to work on time (I went in every morning at 7:00am). I continued to work throughout the treatments. I HAD to…I carried our family’s insurance coverage through my job. I was in community relations and met with various groups/strangers and went to public meetings frequently.

This ’superwoman’ act took it’s toll. I was diagnosed with Stage III breast cancer, and had treatment over a 9 month period. I had a surgery to remove the lump. I had a surgery to remove the breast and lymph nodes (all tested were positive for cancer). I had a CT of the abdomen, a complete body bone scan, and other tests to determine if it had spread beyond my lymph nodes. Luckily, it had not. I then had a surgery to get a catheter port implanted on my breastbone, this is where they would do the intravenous chemo treatments as it was too dangerous to use a regular arm-type IV. After 8 chemo treatments, I had a surgery to remove the catheter port. I still have the radiation burns from the 33 treatments of radiation, and am beginning to wonder if it will ever fade. I was

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 Biopsy, Ordeal, Working Woman

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