My Story
I have yearly mammograms. In 2005 I was two weeks short of a year, but my husband encouraged me to go in, since he had an appt. in the same building. They found a 6-8mm cancer - invasive in my right breast.
I am grateful that MammoSite was available, and that I fit the criteria. I am Swedish/Irish and have very sensitive fair skin. The thought of weeks of radiation was more than I could bear. I asked my doctor whether there was some other way and was told that I might be eligible for MammoSite. I was post-menopausal; it had not spread; the margins were clear; the sentinel nodes clear. It was deep and not near the skin. MammoSite was amazingly easy.... no pain at all for five days of radiation. I was the 12th woman in Charlotte to have MammoSite.
Here is a poem I wrote post radiation. I call it: "DOORS" and it pretty well tells my story:
When did doors become a metaphor?
Was it my husband's ambulance door two thousand two?
Doors had been portals to comfort, security, life.
Not pain, fear, and death.
I walked through difficult doors, afraid, wanting to run from, hide from, deny.
As a hospital volunteer, avoiding the Cancer Center.... couldn’t, wouldn't happen to me.
The diagnosis: "It's what we thought."
Why didn't they say the word?
Scary doors, machines, technology I couldn't grasp,
A table in the middle of an antiseptic room,
Alone with a radiation robot...
Delivering life, not death...hope not despair.
Those life-changing doors offered caring, friendship, hope, gratitude and unconditional love.
I walk with confidence through the difficult doors once feared.
I have to step through them to survive.
Difficult doors offer a gift of understanding.
I trust how beautiful the final door will be.
This profile is solely the words of the person who received MammoSite Targeted Radiation Therapy to treat breast cancer. Note that this profile is specific to this particular person, and experiences will vary.
