After receiving a "clear" annual mammogram in February 2021 I discovered a lump in my armpit that December. I originally laughed it off with a promise "to spend my $20 copay for the doctors to tell me everything was fine" as it was probably just a pulled muscle or another sign of age. Due to the holidays and Covid backups I was finally able to get in the following February and much to my shock I was diagnosed with Stage IIIB Triple Negative Breast Cancer metastatic to lymph nodes. I knew the journey would be a rough one but I was determined to be cancer free by the time my oldest daughter married her true love in the fall. Due to my fantastic family support combined with the newly approved neoadjuvant treatment I received, I kicked cancer's a$$ right out of my body!
This disease cost me my hair, my breasts and affected my mental health. But because of cancer research that helps find ways to combat this disease I still have my life. Treatment and surgery have allowed me to see one daughter get married and one daughter have her first child.