In June 2004, I was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer called Inflammatory Breast Cancer. The survival rate is less than 50% compared to the 90% rate of regular breast cancer. Eight years later, I’m still alive, I still have cancer and I’m still being treated. I decided early that if I were going to die, death would have to find me. I’m not going to bed and wait for it.
Life doesn’t give you one problem at a time. It doesn’t say here’s a problem, solve it and then we’ll go to the next problem. Looking back, I see things that should have raised a red flag. I blamed the stress from working two jobs and getting older for the weight gain, tiredness, sleepiness and irritability. Breast cancer did not cross my mind. Other people got cancer, but not me. I didn’t think about cancer.
One of the myths of cancer is that weight loss is a symptom but not weight gain. Sudden changes in your appetite are a vital reason to be concerned. More than one person has said to me “you’re too fat to have cancer.” On one particular occasion at a discount store, a young man, around the age of 30, made a nasty comment about my baldhead. I politely told him I had cancer and the hair loss was a result of chemotherapy. He looked at me and said, “You don’t have cancer. You look to healthy.” Misinformation and the fear of cancer is everywhere.
Get to know your body. If something changes, check it out. I’m not a medical person and I don’t read and try to interpret medical books. However, if I had paid closer attention to what my body was saying, the outcome may have been different.
Another myth about breast cancer is it never causes pain or fever.cancer is silent in most cases and you should get regular mammograms to catch it as early as possible. However, more than one kind of breast cancer exists. My left breast turned red, had fever, and hurt before I went to the doctor. The doctor subscribed antibiotics for a breast infection.
According to the American Cancer Society, you need to have a cancer check if you have a painless lump or mass, swelling, redness, or irritation of the breast. Check a nipple that goes inwards or has a discharge . Don’t expect all doctors to know about cancer. I went to a doctor, a clinic and finally the medical facility at the University of South Alabama before I was diagnosed with cancer.
Resource: American Cancer Society