Here’s to Heather!
Heather beautifully recounted her story in her own words for us as part of our survivor narratives project. Take a read below!
I was diagnosed with Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma shortly before my 31st birthday, after finding a lump during a self-examination. I remember spending those first several days after my diagnosis shocked and terrified, trying my best to understand what was happening. In hindsight, I should have listened to my breast specialist and stayed away from Google.
In the coming weeks, I would learn that the cancer had spread to several nodes and I would need chemotherapy and radiation. As the mother of five small children, it felt at times as though the impossible was looming in front of me. But, what I learned to do was take each day as it came, and that is what I would tell any newly diagnosed cancer patient to try to do. My other important piece of advice would be to take care of your mental health as well as your physical heath after your diagnosis.
I ended up having two lumpectomies to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue, then moving on to treatment. During treatment, I found myself more tired than I had ever been. My husband often had to come home from work and immediately take over with the kids so I could go to bed. I remember going to bed as early as 3PM! I am particularly grateful for his support during that time, and for my best friend, who showed up for sixteen Monday's in a row, after each chemo treatment, with dinner for our family of seven.
I completed treatment in April of 2019. I do still deal with some impacts of Breast Cancer daily. I sometimes wish more people understood that the journey doesn't end the day treatment does and that life is often still far from normal as Breast Cancer patients learn to navigate life after cancer. That said, I have come a long way and it is amazing to feel myself continue to heal. When I was first diagnosed, I wondered how I would ever get through everything I was facing, and now, I know I can face anything - one day at a time.
