my name is susan and i'm 52. i found a lump in my left breast in april of 2007. i had surgery to remove cyst on august 13, upon awakening i was told that a tumor 1.1cm was removed and that i needed another surgery to get clear margins and lymph nodes, this was done on august 20,the tumor was a grade 3 infiltrating ductal carcinoma and was postive in 2 out of 9 lymph nodes, it was estrogen and progesterone negative and HER-2 neu negative, meaning Triple Negative breast cancer. the worst kind. i must have chemo and radiation. i was to have 8 chemo treatments and 35 weeks of radiation. i had 4 treatments of cytoxan and adriamysin and 1 treatment of taxol before damage was done to my lungs and heart. i developed pneumonia and was hospitalized for 8 days. the taxol caused me to develop fibrosis of the lungs. i was on 5 liters of oxygen 24 hours a day and 3 inhalers a day.when i finally got over the pneumonia, i started going to park and walking and eating right and taking vitamins. today i'm 17 months cancer free and not on oxygen any more and only have to use my inhaler on a as needed basis. thanks to some good drs. and the good LORD, i'm doing alot bettter. my hair and nails have grown back and i now have a tatto on my left chest, that i wear proudly. i had reconstruction on december 29,2007 and everything is going as well with that. i have mri's now instead of mammograms because i am considered high risk for breast cancer because of the kind i had. i do regular self exams and still have to see my oncologist. THANK-YOU and this is my story.
susanpiedmont, AL