Myra's Story

My life took a tailspin on November 13, 2006. I had an appointment with a plastic surgeon to see about taking out implants. It only took her a few seconds before she could see that I had a problem that I had not even thought about. She discovered that I had inflammatory breast cancer. It took a couple of days for the biopsy to come back and then I was immediately scheduled with other doctors for opinions and surgery.

I was working at the time as a high school counselor and loved my career and working with teenagers. My plans were to have the chemo and keep working. The doctor said there should be no reason not to be able to keep up the lifestyle I had. She said I would probably be a little tired and would need to rest, but that all else should be fine. Wow, was I in for a change.

During the next six months I was totally unable to work or even go out of the house because of hospitalization, transfusions, mouth sores, pneumonia, oxygen tanks, and totally not able to walk from room to room without being exhausted. After 4 treatments of chemo, I had to stop because my body was too weak to continue the next two rounds. Because of this reaction, my surgery was scheduled to give my body a chance to rest from the chemo.

I had a double masectomy in April 2007 and because of complications the day after the surgery, I had to go back into surgery and remove a blood clot in my chest. I spent the next week in the hospital recovering from what they told me would be an overnight procedure. I elected to do reconstruction, and so I had expanders in me, and no ever tells you how painful that is and never goes away until months after they are removed.

The worst thing was yet to come. I had been home two weeks from surgery and still not well, when our youngest son called, in tears, to tell us that our 2-1/2 month old granddaughter, Dru, had just been diagnosed with a brain tumor and was in Primary Children's Hospital and scheduled for surgery the next morning. The doctor's didn't give a lot of hope in such a tiny baby, but wanted to try all they could.

The following months, through September 2007 were filled with chemo and radiation for both Dru and I. She had to have a stem cell replacement and I was on herceptin until April 2008. We both had beautiful bald heads and have about the same haircuts now.

Little Dru is now 18 months old and the doctors are totally amazed at how terrific she is doing. She is a "miracle" with all she went through. She is walking around and trying to talk and no one would know all she has been through except for the tube in her stomach that feeds her because her little stomach still has a few problems which will get better with time.

I am doing great also, and I am grateful for each day and each sunrise and sunset, and I truly see things a little more clearly and appreciate things a little more and love all the beauty around me and feel great compassion for someone I see who is struggling with health problems. I think life gives us a little poke to remind us how wonderful life really is. Dru and I will always have a little bond because I can tell her sometime how sick she really was. And then we will laugh at our bald heads.

No matter what the long term outcome is, I am glad to have an understanding of the horrible thing that cancer is and to have a chance now to help others get through struggles. Cancer is ugly, but it cannot take away a fighting attitude if you don't want it to. I am not grateful for the cancer I had, but I am grateful for the things I learned through all the trials. LIFE IS GOOD!!!!