LaRena's Story

In January 2005, I was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. I had a large tumor across my stomach under the skin layers. (I thought was fat and the diet wasn't working.) and another in the uterus. My Oncologist decided to give me Chemotherapy to try to shrink the size of the tumor before surgery. After 6 installments of chemo of 3 weeks apart, I underwent surgery on July 7 2005. It was a full hysterectomy and also the removal of the mass across my stomach. The surgeon was very confident that the removal was complete. At my last followup appointment on July 8,2008, I was cancer free for 3 years now. Then I had to ruin it, I mentioned that I thought I had a lump in my breast. My oncologist got me in for a Mammogram and biopsy. The biopsy showed cancerous cells. The good news is that it is unrelated to the previous cancer. I met with the surgeon and had a MRI so he could have a better look. He sent me for genetic testing, because my mother and grandmother also had cancer. The good news is that I have neither BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. I was scheduled for surgery July 29 and I hope everything came out okay. (ha ha) In the future, I'm now facing the possibility of Radiation therapy or Chemotherapy or maybe both. At the age of 54, this was my first Mammogram. I have been thinking that I should get one for years and after all, It's not the worst thing that ever happened to me! It would have been good for them to compare and It may have led to earlier detection of Breast Cancer. Now. I would advise women to get a Mammogram early and often and if diagnosis is cancer, be strong, keep fighting, and the hard part, do what the doctors tell you to do.