“I felt so embarrassed. I wanted to tell them how torn I was making the decision to remove my breasts in my 20s. How I couldn’t stand sitting in the waiting room with crying women in gowns. How I couldn’t even had sex with my husband because I was so afraid he’d think I was disgusting. As we were leaving, my father-in-law told them they should mind their own business. Not one of them said anything.”
‘You know this isn’t a bad boob job, right?’ In my bikini top, women erupted in laughter at my cancer scars.’: Woman beats breast cancer, new symptoms dismissed as ‘overreacting’ turn out to be colon cancer
‘If I die, our kids won’t remember me.’ My husband excused himself to the bathroom, literally sick to his stomach.’: Woman mistakes breast cancer for ‘clogged milk duct,’ says chemo ‘almost killed her’
“The ultrasound tech brought me a box of tissues, tears welling up in her eyes. ‘What are the tissues for?’ I asked, confused. ‘There’s an 80% chance it’s cancer.’ I was completely shell-shocked. Numb. I couldn’t get out of the room and building fast enough. While others continued living their lives, I was stuck, sick. My life was put on hold.”
‘As painful as this picture is for me to see, it hurts even more this could become ANY ONE OF YOU. I know I’m a lucky one.’
“Why do I show you my face? Why do I show you my pain? Why do I reveal these heart-breaking scars? I’ll tell you why.”
‘I wore red lipstick during my mastectomy. The nurses joked I looked ‘too good’ for somebody having surgery. I had a huge party the night before. I bought a wig to look like Britney Spears!’
“We can all become overwhelmed with the negativity in the world. From my experience during cancer I can tell you there is so much good. My support even came from strangers.”
‘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.”
‘When I was 18 years old I felt a lump in my breast. I immediately made an appointment and was quickly dismissed, young women my age didn’t get breast cancer.’
“Everyone stops you and says hello and asks how you are doing. All I could think, all I wanted to yell is, ‘Not great, today I have cancer!’”
