“The nurse I was assigned to made fun of my face painting and I got incredibly sick. I stood next to our car, afraid I would fall over while I screamed, ‘NOT ME!’ over and over again in broad daylight. I asked him one question, ‘Am I going to die?’ He didn’t answer.”
‘The bullying from doctors was scarring. I felt a lump and started to shake. My self-esteem was rocked.’: Woman battles aggressive breast cancer after serious arm injury, ‘The harder it got, the more people showed up’
‘The nurse approached me with a pitying look. ‘You won’t be receiving your treatment.’ I cried hot, silent, angry tears.’: Woman urges ‘live life to the fullest’ after brave battle with breast cancer
“My husband was about to leave for his weekend trip when he felt my forehead was scorching hot. I felt so cold and feverish. The next few hours were a fog. My treatments were deferred. I was too weak.”
‘I was the superficial party girl. I lost my fabulous cleavage and all my beautiful hair, the two things I felt made me beautiful.’: Woman finds self-love after battle with breast cancer, ‘It gave me the kick I needed to transform’
“I wasted most of life achieving nothing. There was no dancing on the bar with cleavage showing and crazy, curly hair. I had to find another way to make myself happy, I had nowhere else to look but within myself.”
‘5 months after my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia, I felt a soft lump in one breast. ‘It’s not cancer,’ the doctor assured me. I believed her.’: Mom diagnosed with breast cancer 5 months after daughter’s leukemia
“All throughout her treatment, I asked, ‘Why her and not me?’ Well, someone was listening. It wasn’t until she finished treatment, I took some time for myself. I felt a soft lump in my breast. I knew it was cancer. ‘Whatever happens, please stay positive.’ My daughter with leukemia was ready to take the lead and help me.”
‘I stepped onto the bus and felt a ‘release.’ A warm sensation and then a POP. I lost my balance, my eyes closed shut.’: Woman beats breast cancer after losing her mother
“I’m often asked the same question. ‘What was your reaction to the news?!’If you really really want to know, I was ecstatic. I knew I had cancer. Something lit up in me like a light bulb. A vision of me on my death bed. I remember a tear dropping in remembrance of my mother. The joy of knowing that after losing her at age 14, I could finally meet her again. There I stood, 25, receiving the best news of my life, standing in a bus, in pain, weak.”
‘Go home. You’re cured.’ The same day there was an urgent message on my phone. I didn’t want to spoil Christmas.’: Woman diagnosed with Stage 4 breast, lung, liver cancer, ‘I decided to take back control’
“I genuinely thought it would all be fine. I ate a healthy diet, was fit and healthy. I just couldn’t believe it. I was in a trance. Numb. There was yet another tumor, in a third place. I rang the cancer helpline. I tried to speak, but just cried. The poor person on the end just listened to me sob for 15 minutes without a break. I needed to get it all out of my system.”
‘It was not even on my radar that my lumpy boob could be a cancer boob. How naive I was.’: Mom in her 30s diagnosed with breast cancer, warns ‘Don’t be me. Don’t ignore it’
“I had a giant, pain-in-the-rear tumor growing for years. YEARS. I am smart and with it. I’m one of those moms who is always trying her darndest to make the very best decisions for her family. And yet, I missed a giant tumor. I had for sure felt it before. I was pregnant and nursing on and off for 8 years. My body was always changing, and I was keeping the small people alive. It was so easy to chalk it up to body changes and move on.”
‘You know this isn’t a bad boob job, right?’ They saw my cancer scars and erupted in laughter.’: Woman beats breast cancer, new symptoms dismissed as ‘overreacting’ turn out to be colon cancer
“I felt so embarrassed. I started putting makeup on my scars and wearing only tube top bikinis. I started wearing a bra all the time and wouldn’t remove it during intimate times with my husband. I went from cancer free and ecstatic about the surgery results, to mortified to even show my breasts.”
‘I found out the Friday before Thanksgiving. ‘OK, I can do this. Everyone is coming here for dinner. I will put a smile on my face, and we will have a good celebration. Who was I kidding, though?’
“They gathered around me, each taking turns cutting off locks of my hair to send in for a wig. I was always the one cutting my kids hair. I never thought I would be put in the chair. As I sat, I cried alone as my eyelashes fell out into my weeping eyes.”
‘My mom was standing beyond the door, a distraught look on her face. I could tell something horrible happened. ‘I’m sorry to tell you this.’ The initial shock was like a punch to the gut.’
“I was sure it was one of my cat’s that had been killed, but it was far worse than I ever could’ve imagined. I fell to the floor, shaking. ‘How could this be?,’ I screamed. It was cold-blooded murder.”
