My name is Susan Donahue, and this is my breast cancer story.Chemo First????????
I was diagnosed with breast cancer on December 22, 2008. In a lot of ways I feel this was an early Christmas gift and definitely a wake up call, not to mention the shock of my life.
Dr. James Reilly was the surgeon who performed the biopsy. He was so good at trying to explain what was happening to my body and what was going to happen to my body; however, after the words “the biopsy is cancerous,” I sort of zoned out. Kathryn Simone, APRN, tried to help me process the information they were giving me at that time and she tried to explain what was going to happen to me over the next several months. She was so supportive and always made me feel like all questions are important. She is very good at what she does.
After learning the diagnosis, my mind wanted to go immediately to surgery and have both breasts removed!!! I had so many questions for them: When would the surgery take place? What would be involved? How would the recovery go? What would happen as far as additional treatments after surgery? GUESS WHAT? I was wrong----turns out there was another way to approach fighting my cancer!!!! Chemo first.
Dr. Reilly immediately sent me to Oncology Associates, Dr. Lemon, for chemotherapy. I had multiple tumors and they were initially too large for surgery. This was the most difficult concept for me to process. I thought you were supposed to have surgery first, then chemo, then radiation. Not in my case.
Next stop, Dr. Lemon. At our first meeting, the same thing happened as with Dr. Reilly. Dr. Lemon started talking and I zoned out after “you will start chemotherapy on Friday.” It was a Wednesday (New Year’s Eve) and I remember saying, “You mean a week from Friday?” Oh no, he meant THAT Friday. I just started thinking about how I wasn’t ready; this was going too fast, I had to make plans in my life for what was going to happen. I remember he asked me if I had any questions, but since I wasn’t even sure what was happening to me, and I was still in shock, I replied “I don’t even know what to ask right now.” I did ask if my hair would fall out and if I should get a wig. He told me to take care of that right away. Sure enough, two weeks after treatment my hair was gone.
Once again, I was in really good care. Dr Lemon and his staff were so good to me at each visit. When I was brave enough to ask what stage I was diagnosed, the answer was stage IIIb. I was so surprised because for the past 5 years I had faithfully been having annual mammograms. In fact, the last 2 years the mammograms were every 6 months. I found the lump under my left arm myself five months after my last mammogram. How could this happen????? There is so much technology available and I was doing what I was supposed to do. How can I be diagnosed with stage IIIb?
Chemo was really rough but they got me through it. The tumor under my arm completely disappeared.
My last chemo treatment was April 28th and surgery was then scheduled for May 13, 2009. I was so excited to finally have surgery. Dr. Reilly performed the surgery (a bilateral mastectomy). It went really well. There was a lot of swelling, but I never needed any pain medications. Dr. Reilly removed several lymph nodes from the cancer side to be further tested and the path report came back with no sign of cancer!!!!!
This is where Dr. Lemon should be extremely proud of himself and I am so thankful to have him as my oncologist. He knew exactly what treatments to use to shrink the tumors and kill any other cancer cells. I now have five weeks of radiation to make sure all cancer cells are destroyed.
If I can help anyone else confused about cancer stages and treatment, then this was worth sharing. I guess after all is said and done, it doesn’t matter what order the treatments are given, or even how far your cancer has progressed, all you can do is hold on to your faith and trust in the medical professionals who are helping you fight the battle of your life.
Something like this really opened my eyes as to how many special people there are in my life. Family, friends, coworkers, and all the many medical professionals involved in my treatments. This was one of the most difficult journeys I’ve taken in my lifetime, but it has taught me so much and given me a greater appreciation for how I spend every day.
I am cancer free thanks to Dr. Lemon and his staff and Dr. Reilly and his staff. The good Lord guided me to the people he knew could take on the challenge and I am so grateful, this was my best Christmas gift ever!!!!!!
Susan Donahue
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