My Story Of Breast Cancer





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It’s not a long story, but where do I start. I guess first of all, I’d have to start with the fact that I was raised in a Christian home and will be forever grateful for my upbringing. A lot of things have happened to me in my life Some things are wonderful and some things are not so pretty. I’ll let you decide which is which although I believe that all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord, according to his calling. I am married to a wonderful man. At times I didn’t think so. Has anyone else been there? I have been married 40 years and am thankful for all of it. You see, we all tend to take a lot - no, most things for granted: our parents, our spouses, our children, our friends, our relationships, and our health. I have 5 beautiful children and 22 grandchildren. Fortunately, I am here to enjoy all of them. I won’t go into detail but will just say that 12 years ago I decided that I had had enough of my marriage. I left my husband, filed for divorce right away, met someone else and was going to marry this someone else. My husband knew that even if it took 50 years, God would bring me back home. Guess what! He did and because of that I can enjoy all that I have. But that is another story! My main point in writing this is - oh, that so ugly word/disease - CANCER! Two years ago , in August of 1999, I went in for my yearly physical. I had the works, including a mammogram. When my doctor came in for the physical part of the examination he said that everything looked good. Then, while he was examining me, he found a lump in my breast. It had not shown up on the mammogram. I knew at that moment that it was cancer and immediately, I said, ”Lord, I am in Your hands and am trusting You to take care of me.” My doctor immediately called the general surgery department, but alas, the breast surgeon was not in. I was given an antibiotic to take for 10 days because it was possible that I had some type of infection. In 10 days I returned to my doctor and nothing had changed. The lump was still there just as it had been 10 days before. This time, when he called, the breast surgeon told him to send me right over. I had a needle biopsy done and two days later got a call that there were malignant cells found and a surgical biopsy was scheduled. The surgical biopsy was performed. When the results of that came back, I was informed that the cancer had spread to surrounding tissue and that I would have to have a mastectomy. If it had not spread, the surgical biopsy would have gotten it all and nothing else would have to have been done. The incision for the biopsy was almost 2 inches long. When it started to heal, it was painful especially when I tried to do anything with my left hand/arm. It also itched like you wouldn’t believe. There is a reason for this little bit of information which I will get to a little later. The hardest part for me in all of this was in knowing that I had to tell my mom. At this point, my mom was 80 years old and having many problems with her own health. I knew that it would be hard for her to hear and to know that one of her daughters had cancer. I had, throughout the years, often heard her say that the word ‘cancer’ scared her and that she even hated to hear that dreaded word. But, I had to tell her and had to try to impress on her that I was going to be alright! I KNEW that I was going to be fine but felt that she needed to be encouraged. Since she lives 1300 miles away from me, I had to tackle this problem over the telephone. I could not see her reaction, could not see the expression on her face and in her eyes. I do know that she must have been scared initially but that she is a lady of great faith and trust in the Lord and that He would give her the strength to deal with and to cope with this dreadful event. A friend of mine told me about a lady she works with who had a mastectomy the year before and she put me in contact with her. Patty called me to tell me what to expect and to encourage me. I will forever be grateful to this young lady. She told me that there would be numbness under my arm and in the upper part of my back in the shoulder area. She said she has to look when putting deodorant on because she couldn’t tell whether she has hitting the spot or not. She had and still has a wonderful sense of humor! She said that instead of wearing a prostheses, she stuffs a sock in her bra and depending on how she wants to look on any particular day, she uses either a big sock or a small sock. She had tried the prostheses but likes to run and it had slipped out of her bra down to the abdomen area. She said, “Oh, no! Now I have a lump in my stomach!” She made me laugh! She also sent me hats and scarves that she had used when she went through chemotherapy. She told me about that also. Patty was so very helpful! On September 20, 1999 I went in as an outpatient and had the mastectomy. When the report came back from that procedure, I was informed that the cancer had spread into 5 of the lymph nodes. The material that I had explained that 1-3 lymph nodes is stage 1, 4-9 is stage 2 and 10 or more is stage 3. So, as my doctor said, I was in the upper stage one/lower stage 2 level. Needless to say, I had to go through chemotherapy. My incision is 8 to 9 inches long. It goes from about 2 inches below the armpit to the center of my chest . There is a numb area about an inch on each side of the incision. Sometimes it feels like a steel plate has been put in there. During surgery, there was a tube inserted in the incision on the inside that was about 8 to 10 inches long. The other end came out of an opening that was made and was inserted into a small bottle to collect fluids that drain for about 10 days. After that time, the tube is removed. About three weeks after the surgery, I had to start exercising my arm so that I could regain full use of it. I had to ‘walk’ my fingers up the wall, trying to get a little higher each time. This was done from several different angles to regain full motion. I also had to put my hand behind my back and reach up as far as possible. When it got to the point where I could fasten my bra, I no longer had to do that particular exercise. Did it hurt to do those exercises? You bet it did. Fortunately, that was the worst part of the pain during recovery. Earlier I mentioned the fact that the incision from the biopsy was painful and itched. The reason I mentioned that is this. Have you heard of or experienced what is called ’phantom pain’? Amputees know about this. When a part of the body that hurts is removed, the brain and nerves remember that pain. There are times when the biopsy incision hurts but there is nothing there to hurt. Sometimes it itches so much during the night that I will wake up. There is no relief except to wait for it to go away because there is nothing to scratch. Weird! Part of the procedure of a mastectomy is to have lymph nodes removed and checked to see how far the cancer has gone. In my case, I had about 40 removed. I’m told that the number varies from person to person. The nodes in this case are located in the underarm area. The lymph nodes carry lymph throughout the body. When they are removed, there is no way for the lymph to be carried back out of an area - in this case - my arm. The lymph goes into the arm and about 10 percent is absorbed into the body and the rest sort of stays there. When the arm is used and there is increased blood flow, there is also more lymph in the area and swelling occurs. My oncologist explained that the swelling causes no permanent damage but an infection will. Therefore, I am supposed to avoid bug bites, cuts, burns, anything that could possibly cause an infection in my arm. My husband tells me that my swollen arm looks younger than the other arm. Of course it does. The skin is tighter on that one. At times, if I’ve used my arm too much it not only swells but also starts to hurt. Elevating the arm, massaging, and/or wrapping the arm with an Ace bandage will help to alleviate the swelling. Fortunately, and especially in the heat, I have not had to use the bandage. At this point, I have to talk about my husband, then will go back to the chemotherapy. I really found out , during all this time and the two years since discovering that I had cancer, what this man is made of! I was not able to do very much at all for at least a month. In the meantime, I was going two, three, and sometimes four times a week to the doctor. Not only did he take care of me, he also continued to do his work and mine. I have not yet heard him complain or say that he was tired. There were many nights when I could not get into a comfortable position. I had to sleep with my arm elevated so there weren’t just too many positions to choose from. I know that I kept him awake more times than not. Two years later, he still treats me like a queen! As I said, on September 20, 1999, I had a mastectomy. On October 21, 1999, I had my first chemotherapy treatment. I was very fortunate because I had to have only 4 treatments 3 weeks apart. The chemicals used in my treatment were doxorubicin + docetaxel and I have to take tamoxifen for a total of five years. (Tamoxifen is an estrogen blocker and one of the side effects of this drug is that it can cause uterine cancer. I have to make sure that I have a PAP test done every year, which I do anyhow.)The chemicals have to be kept in the refrigerator until time of use so these liquids were very cold. Fortunately, the treatment department kept heated blankets to keep all undergoing treatment warm. Treatments were given intravenously through a vein in the back of my hand and took about 1 hour and 15 minutes each time. After each treatment, I had to drink 1 full gallon of water a day each day for two days. The reason for this is because chemicals affect both the good and the bad cells. The chemicals should be flushed through the body as quickly as possible so that they would not “settle” in any of the organs and cause some permanent damage. Have you ever tried to drink a full gallon of water in 24 hours? After each treatment, and after having downed all that water, I thought that I wouldn’t care if I never saw water again! Some people get extremely nauseated and have diarrhea from the treatments. Again, I was very fortunate and only felt a little sick to my stomach. I had been given medication for this problem to take whenever I felt sick and it worked! I did, however, have a problem for about a week after each treatment with constipation. That was mostly taken care of with X-lax which I took right away. I was also extremely tired for many days after each treatment. Around the second and third days, I simply stayed in bed. Fortunately, or unfortunately, however you want to look at it, my appetite was as good as it had always been! Another side effect of chemotherapy is loss of hair. I had, for the first time in many many years decided to let my hair grow long instead of wearing it short all the time. When I told my boss that I had cancer, the first thing she said was, “Oh, no and you just decided to have long hair!” I couldn’t help but laugh that she would think of that right away. I had prepared all of my grandchildren that Grandma was going to be bald headed for a while and that it was OK. My daughter, Candice, said, “That’s alright, Mom. We’ll just call you ‘Kojan’.” They were actually looking forward to it and kept asking me when it was going to come out. Anyhow, on November 3, 1999, my hair started coming out. Not a lot at first, but by the next day it was more than noticeable and was coming out by the handful.

My daughter was here with her two little boys. The youngest one was just two years old. He always liked to play with hair when he was being held and drinking from his sipper cup.On this particular day, I could not let him ‘twirl’ my hair since it was falling out. I had put a scarf on to keep the hair from being everywhere. It had been suggested that when this started happening, to simply shave my head. So - when my husband came home and took one look at me, he said that it was time to do just that. So, with the 2 year old and the almost 4 year old watching and enjoying the big event, he shaved my head. When it was done, Ben came and sat on my lap. He reached up to touch my head and changed his mind but continued to sit on my lap and drink his milk. The next time he came over, I had my head covered. It’s cold in Wisconsin in November. Ben put his cup on the table, climbed up in my lap and with one hand reached up and pulled my scarf off and with the other hand, reached for his sipper cup. He proceeded to drink and rub my bald head. After that, I think he actually looked forward to doing that.

The other grandchildren were very excited when they found out that I was now bald. One of my granddaughters, Korissa, who was 5 ½ at the time, would always ask me to take my scarf off so that she could see my head. Then she would ask me to lean over so she could kiss my head. That became a regular routine with us. Oh what a joy those children are to me. Another grandchild, Cory Ellis, had not seen me yet when one day his mom and dad and sisters and brother came to see me. Some of the other grandchildren were here also. They brought Cory into my bedroom to see me. I had a stocking cap on (I slept with a stocking cap on to keep my head warm at night) so one of them asked me to take it off so Cory could see. That little boy’s eyes got huge - they’re big anyhow - and he said, “Wow! She doesn’t have ANY hair!” Cory was just 4 years old then. Because losing my hair was a part of the process of my treatment, I had no problem adjusting to it. The grandkids certainly helped me keep things in prospective. I could tell a lot more grandchildren stories, but (and I’m sure you’re glad) I won’t. My mom sent me money for my birthday, which is in November, for me to buy a wig. I wore it when I went to church and for outings where things were a little more formal than grocery shopping. The pictures I have of me with the wig on sort of make it look like a wig…..but one of my daughters-in-law said that in person it looked like natural hair. Everyone else complimented me so I think maybe I was just more self-conscious with the wig on. Plus, my head would get awfully hot! Thank you, Mom. I really do appreciate your love and your prayers and your generousity.

During the time of my treatments, I continued to work. I drive a school bus and the people who own the busses have had their experiences with cancer and chemotherapy. They were very understanding and cooperative. It usually took me about 7 to 10 days to get strength enough to get up at 5 a.m. and go to work. They more than compensated by having someone else do my morning route and spread my kids out to other busses and re-arranged other routes to help me out with the afternoon routes. My fellow workers took up a collection just to let me know that I was missed and appreciated.


Jan and hubby, Dick, Christmas Eve of 1999, 3 months and 4 days after surgery.


Chemotherapy, as I mentioned before, not only destroys the ‘bad’ cells but also some of the good ones. I didn’t have a very good memory anyhow, but when I’d forget something I’d make the comment, “Well, I’ve had chemotherapy, you know.” Of course, I had no idea that that might be one of the things to seriously consider. Sometimes, I felt - well - not quite confused but just forgetful. I asked my oncologist if the tamoxifen could have that side effect. He said,”No. But, chemotherapy can.” Aha….I wasn’t kidding and didn’t even know it. I could have contacted the American Cancer Society but chose not to do so. I felt that I could get whatever information I may need from my doctors. I knew that I had the support of the people in the church I attend. You see, they were constantly praying for me. What better support can a person have than to have someone, much less an entire church, praying for you.. They also brought me meals for several days. One special young lady brought me meals several times herself…just because she cares. My mom, who lives in South Carolina, had people from the church she attends praying for me. My husband, my children, my friends, my family, were all praying. The best part is that they continue to pray. I continue to trust God to take care of me. So far, all of my check-ups have been great. I have to go in every three months for blood work and for examinations. Did I or do I need an additional support group? I really don’t believe that I do. First of all, I’m in God’s hands, my family is absolutely wonderful, my friends are ever near and my husband is one great guy! If you, or anyone that you know has had cancer, I urge you to keep trusting in the Lord. If you need someone to talk with, find that relative, friend, or support group that can help you. If at all possible, try to keep a sense of humor or try to develop one. I realize that cancer is a serious, vicious disease. I do not take it lightly. At the same time, I cannot dwell on it or be ever fearful that it may return. It very well may. God will help me cross that bridge if and when I get to it. In the meantime, I have a lot of life to live for God, for my husband, for my family, for my friends, and for myself. OK. So maybe this is longer than I originally thought! I’m going to end this with a brief story and sincerely hope that my sense of humor does not offend anyone. I still chuckle when I think of it. Please keep in mind that this story takes place while I was hairless. In my bedroom, my closet doors are full length mirrors. As I stepped out of the shower one day, and into my bedroom, I glimpsed myself in these full length mirrors. I burst out laughing and my husband, who was in another room, heard me. He asked what was so funny. I told him that with my bald head and half my chest gone, if I had anything else missing I would look like a mannequin in a state of total disrepair. I was waiting for someone to come in, grab me , and throw me in a room to wait for repairs. Yes, it is sad, but there can also be humor in it. Ladies, I urge you all to do a monthly self examination of your breasts. Yes, even you younger ladies. Cancer is no respecter of age Make an appointment today for a physical and KEEP it. Don’t put it off. Do it for your family, for your friends, and for yourself. Men, I have no statistics on this, but you need to be aware that men also can and do get breast cancer. If you notice an unusual lump or sore spot, please do not hesitate to see your doctor. Breast cancer is no respecter of gender! Keep me in your prayers. I will be remembering all of you in prayer who have had or do have cancer, all of you who are close to someone who has had or does have cancer. Remember…..God does love you!



Jan with grandbaby one hour after he was born on April 2, 2001.

Jan's Mail


This is an answer to an email I sent to Jan asking if I could put some more information on her page.

Hi. You can put my first name in.....Also that I was almost 57 at the time the cancer was found.........I wrote the story about 1 year and 8 or 9 months after the surgery , which would have made it right around the end of April of 2001 or sometime in May of 2001.....can't remember exactly. An update that I still go in every 3 months for check-ups (including a mammogram about every 9 months or so) and that so far all is well. Janet



I placed this page on my site for my sister who had breast cancer to share with you the ordeal she went through and what faith really means. It was written entirely by her. What a gem of a lady she is!!!

As of today, Jan is still cancer free and still a great lady!!!


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