Jun 17 2014.
views 2240Real Life Stories: Battling Breast Cancer
Lifestyle, stress and other factors are causing a rapid increase in the number of cancer patients in our society. For some the battle with this dreaded disease is a long drawn process while for others they are able to conquer it quickly. In women breast and ovarian cancers are the most common. In this issue WOW speaks to Gishani and Christine both who were diagnosed with breast cancer and their story on how they dealt with it.
Gishani Heaton is 43 years old and lives in the US. She is an IT professional and photographer. During a routine mammogram which is recommended at 40 she says “ The scan came up with a pin head-sized area of abnormal cells. I owe a lot to my doctor for insisting on that mammogram. First thought was it was not cancer. It just can't be; I have no family history. I had to go in for a biopsy to rule out cancer and to everyone's surprise it turned out to be ductal carcinoma in situ. DCIS is the most treatable form of breast cancer because it hadn't spread to the surrounding tissue, yet. The solution seemed quite simple. Remove the cancerous cells, follow through with radiation and take Tamoxifen for 5 years.
However, after 2 surgeries to remove the cancer, they still couldn't get clean margins (the acceptable “cancer-free” radius around the cells they isolate for removal). Unfortunately, cancer spreads like a web, and most of the growth could not be seen with an MRI, so the surgeon was "driving blind", hoping to get it all. After the second surgery, there wasn't much flesh left to perform a third. I was left with the inevitable - mastectomy and reconstruction. It seemed like a huge leap to face a mastectomy when all this started with a few abnormal cells. But, my cancer was close to the skin and to the chest muscle. It had to go! If I had to lose a body part, the breast was a good one to let go. But, parting with any body part is easier said than done. I needed to come to terms with it, and to help me make that decision, I decided to get a second opinion from the Mayo Clinic, a very respected hospital. The answer was the same. Let it go. I went through with a double mastectomy. I never wanted to face this situation ever again and a mastectomy was the surest way to ensure that”.
Gishani adds “My husband, Jason, gave me great strength. . Our families and friends all helped keep my sanity and also helped me do lots of research. Finally, it was up to me, and when faced with difficult decisions, its amazing what inner strength you find you possess. You can do it! It is not the end of life but the beginning of a new one. View cancer as a project you have to get through and work through it step by step. There’s a time for emotions but it helps to be methodical and do your homework. It’s your body!
While soaping her breasts during a shower Christine Edwards, 66 at the time discovered a lump in her right breast. After an immediate consultation with an oncologist she was diagnosed with a ductal carcinoma. “ I was initially shocked to feel this lump as I had felt no pain or discomfort, initially I was very frightened as my husband and daughter were in Sri Lanka and I was living in London. I had to rely on my sisters and mum to help me see this through. Initially the doctor performed a lymphnode biopsy on me followed by chemotherapy every three weeks for 6 months. After the lump had shrunk in size they performed a lumpectomy and followed it with radio therapy for five weeks. It was heart wrenching for me to see me lose my hair. Huge clumps of it would fall off. However I was more keen to beat this illness than worry about losing my hair.
I drew inspiration from speaking to fellow patients and I was determined to overcome this illness. I was very fortunate as I had prayers from all corners of the world and remained positive throughout. I also worked for as long as being at work helped me to cope and kept my sanity! Being diagnosed with cancer was a huge shock to me and I kept asking myself why me? But in the end, good medical treatment, prayers, help from my sisters, mum and husband who subsequently came over to look after me all helped me. Although I am in remission I still have to go for periodic checkups and am on medication. The most important thing as women we have to have regular mammograms or do self checks. There is a whole lot of information available on the internet, read up on it be aware.”
By Tina Edward Gunawardhana
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Preethi Ratnayake says:
Jun 19, 2014 at 12:00 amI'm Gishani's mum and what she went through was terrible but she had strength that was amazing and she's now through it and looks as great as ever. She was indeed blessed to find out in time and be able to go through that surgery and it was an eye-opener for all of us. Thanks Tina for writing on breast cancer.