5 years

Five years ago on Monday, November 17, 2003, I heard the words "You have Breast Cancer". A day I will never forget. I look back at everything that has happened since then. I had a baby, bilateral mastectomy, reconstruction times 9, hysterectomy, nausea, vomiting. The stress was beyond belief. The stress of this event was just as traumatic for my husband and my parents. To a degree my children were also affected, even though we made life as normal as possible for them.

My family have been supportive through this journey. Dennis, my parents, Ruth and my sister-in-law Niki, were and still are my lifeline. My rock.

The year I was diagnosed, 2003, NEMO was a very popular movie. My children watched Nemo all the time. I remember a scene in the movie when Marlin was scared to swim in the deep, dark water. Dori held his little fin, and sang " Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming, when life gets you down just swim, swim, swim". That phrase got me though everything.

My first chemotherapy, Niki drove down from Denver with buttons she made that said "Just keep Swimming". She had a button for me, Dennis, our children and my parents. To this day, this button gives me comfort. Every time I scared to go get my blood work, scans etc... I take out that button. Just keep swimming.

I canno't believe it has been 5 years. I'm a 5 year survivor.


Below are a few pictures I found.

The top picture is my "real" hair. You can see at the top where it was starting to fall out. My goal was to match my real hair with my wig. The bottom picture was my wig.

The last 2 photos are of my hair growing back. The chemo made my face so swollen.