18 With Breast Cancer
by Addy Dill

I had just moved away to college to start my freshman year when I felt a lump in my breast. I told my mom and we made an appointment to see my primary care physician. My doctor told me it was normal for 18 year old girls to get lumps due to hormones and my menstrual cycle, but he sent me to get an ultrasound done. The ultrasound came back normal, but the lump had already doubled in size, so I was sent to see a surgeon. The surgeon said the lump felt and looked normal, but said she could remove it. My surgeon removed the lump and a week later I was told I had Triple Negative Breast Cancer and would need to start cancer treatments immediately. After another surgery to clear margins I started chemotherapy therapy. I did 16 rounds of chemo and then 4 weeks of radiation. I got to do my chemo treatments with my grandpa who was diagnosed with cancer a couple years before me. We called it family bonding. While going through treatment we had talked to specialists and asked if I needed to get a double mastectomy and they all said it was unnecessary with my type of cancer, but when I turned 23 I decided to get one. I was having lumps grow in my breast due to my menstrual cycle and I would then have to go through tests to make sure they weren’t cancerous. I was over the anxiety I would get each time I found a new lump. The double mastectomy was the best decision I made for my health. Currently I am married and have a beautiful 1.5 year old daughter. I was told I wouldn’t be able to have kids after treatment. Miracles do happen. I want to raise awareness that breast cancer can happen to anyone at any age and I also believe tests and mammograms should be available to everyone of any age. Cancer doesn’t discriminate. I am 6 years cancer free and I’m very grateful to be alive and healthy and be able to share my story.

Every Woman's Fear
By Crissie Kay Linhart

My Cancer Story every woman’s fear Really? Really? Oh Wow! No. Why me? Why now? These were my first words as my husband read the pathology report to me. Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, Favor Pleomorphic Variant, Provisional Grade 3, Estrogen & Progesterone Receptor Positive, HER-2 Negative. You have Cancer. I discovered a lump one day while in the shower. (Spring of 2020) I thought hmmmmm, I’ll just watch that for a bit. A while later, it was still there and not going away as previous lumps had. Those were fluid filled cysts, but this one felt different, more like a BB rather than a soft, round lump. With the Covid crisis, it took time and several appointments to schedule a Mammogram, an additional diagnostic mammogram and then an ultrasound. Sure enough there was something strange in the images. A biopsy was then scheduled. I had a very bad experience with the biopsy which left me shaking and shocked both literally and physically. I was black and blue for months afterward! I left with a real BB (an inserted marker). This was just the scary beginnings. We wait. We worry. We read all about it. Diagnosis is in and after much talking and tears, we scheduled a meeting with the Breast Cancer Doctors at the hospital for a plan of action. What an amazing team of caring individuals! “These go together like peanut butter and jelly” said the Surgeon; Lumpectomy, Radiation and Hormone blockers. And so began the process. Believe me it was no picnic! (October 2020). Surgery was the easy part. I was a bound up kitty cat with a clown for Halloween, 1 day post-op! However, 6 weeks of Radiation treatments 5 days a week was no ray of sunshine. They did have some fun music to distract you while you were hanging (it all) out in that lead room. I recall one time the song was… “Burning memories, teardrops fall while I am Burning memories”. I chuckled as the team behind the “iron curtain” said, “Take a breath, now hold it”. I knew I couldn’t laugh. Yes, I had burnt, melted skin. No laughing matter at all! Luckily for me, my Onco score was a 22. A few more points on the rate of reoccurrence scale and I would have also needed to add a Chemo cocktail to the menu. I was so relieved. I could keep my hair, although it also suffered. The last part of the plan (AI’s) almost killed me though. Seriously, hormones are really a thing! It was the dark, gloomy rainy day that ruins any picnic! I won’t go there but I will tell you, I am more willing to take the risk than that pill. Pink was not my color but now I have lots of pink things! My surgery date of 10/30/20 makes it a great time to celebrate my survivorship. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and in the year of such a worldwide crisis, it makes you stop and think. Gratitude. I am so thankful for modern medical technologies and for my wonderful support group of friends, family and prayer warriors. While the radiation therapy did do permanent and disfiguring damage to go along with my surgical scars, I am blessed to be alive. It could have been way worse. I see other Pink Sisters with even greater difficulties. I cherish the friendships that I have made with others along this road of recovery. Cancer is a journey with no end. It changes you forever. Yes, we celebrate survivorship! We are now different. We are a sisterhood that no one wants to join. We Volunteer to help. We wear a lot of Pink...IN the Dirt and otherwise! :)"

Curiosity
By Donna Allen

I was curious and got a genetic test done when I was 36 to see if I had a mutation that could affect my life. Well it turned out I had the PALB2 mutation and started having mammograms. I didn’t know of any immediate family members that had breast cancer so it was a shock to me. I went in for my third annual mammogram and they found something suspicious and did a biopsy. When the biopsy came back it showed I had stage one invasive lobular carcinoma. Luckily they caught it early. I had a bilateral mastectomy and only had to do radiation. Getting breast cancer has changed a lot of things in my life cause I no longer take things for granted. I have learned to cherish my family and friends. My husband has been by my side through it all. If I didn’t have him and my kids it would have been a lot harder to deal with. My kids have to have the genetic testing to see if they have the mutation because when mine was found it was still new and they didn’t know a lot about it. I am also at higher risk of getting pancreatic cancer due to this mutation. I am cancer free as of now but it still takes a toll on you emotionally, psychologically and physically. With the help of my husband I am learning to cope with the changes that have happened to me and he is my rock with everything through this journey.

17 years
Denise Chynoweth

I was originally diagnosed in April of 2007 with stage III breast cancer. After 6 weeks of radiation and 17 rounds of chemotherapy I got to take break and only have Herceptin for a year. In 2012 I was deemed cancer free. In August of 2013 amidst difficulty breathing it was discovered that my cancer had spread to my lungs. Since then I’ve been on several different chemotherapy drugs and another 19 rounds of radiation. Every day is a blessing since being diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. I will always have to have some kind of chemo until the Lord decides I’ve had enough and He takes me home.

Lucky Catch
Kathryn Keck

In early March, I felt a small lump in my right breast. I assumed it may have been related to recent breastfeeding but I decided to see my primary care doctor anyway. She agreed we ought to have it looked at since I'm only a few years out from regular mammograms anyway.

I got a mammogram followed by an ultrasound that necessitated a biopsy.
On the day I arrived for my biopsy, I was told the Radiologist doing my procedure may have seen something else on the mammogram so she wanted to do another. I had another mammogram and then another ultrasound, at which time she confirmed a second mass, then found a third that was not well visualized by mammo. I ended up getting an unexpected triple biopsy.
My results came on 5/9. The first two masses seen via mammogram were benign but the third was malignant. I was diagnosed with Stage 1, Grade 1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.
I'm so grateful my Radiologist (Dr. Pigman) took the time to look a little further. And proud of myself for recognizing something was different- even if the lump I found wasn't the cancerous one. We caught it early and things could have gone differently if we hadn't.

I had my lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy on 5/31. I started radiation on 7/10. My skin burned. It itched and hurt at the same time, but after completing my 20th treatment I rang the bell in front of my husband and mom.

Cancer may have started the fight, but I finished it.

Ladies- Do your self checks. If something doesn't seem right, ask questions and don't be afraid to advocate for yourself.

Breast cancer at 36
Nathleen Campbell

My name is Nathleen Campbell. I was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer on 10/15/2021, and I have brca1 , diagnosed about 6 months after divorce of 16 years when my then husband left me. I found it because I had a pain in my left breast,on
My bra line,I had worn a sports bra that was a little too small. I thought it was from that.but it was cancer. After the biopsy and The weeks of waiting for the type and stage were excruciating. Definitely one the worst parts of having cancer. I had stage 3 triple negative breast cancer in my left breast and stage 1 pr/er cancer in my right breast. My cancer journey was long, depressing, and the hardest thing I have ever been through. I’m very incredibly thankful I found a group of gals going through or have gone through breast cancer also, Shades of Pink. I did pretty good through my first set of chemo ,I even took my kids to Disneyland ,bald ,wearing a hat the whole time with my Disney ears, knowing I wouldn’t be able to do anything like that for a long time. It was one of the best decision I ever made. Then I had the chemo that they call the “red devil” and started keytruda , and then my life changed. I lost 130 lbs in 4 months. Good thing I had a lot of weight extra weight on me.I couldn’t eat,if I ate I would throw it up. I am still dealing with that. Keytruda helped save my life ,but it aslo destroyed my thyroid. I’m never hungry and can go all week without eating. Thankfully I had friends ,family and my two kids to help remind and to bring me food. And used a lot of timers. I’m getting better ,but I fear it will be a lifelong issue. After surgery to remove both of my breasts. I got implants without a second thought. I was young single, why not? They waited for radiation for me to recover, I didnt. Within a week or so they had to remove my left implant due to infection. I didn’t have the emotional capacity to even think about how devastating that was so I continued and went through a month of radiation. It went well. But after that I had zero energy. My knees hurt so bad I couldn’t walk. For 9 months that went on. I was bedridden to my couch, so I could see and be with my kids and friends and family. I couldn’t even stand up long enough to brush my teeth.Then my right implant got severely infected. They tried fix it,I went through 7 emergency surgeries trying to fix the infection that wouldn’t heal. They ended up removing that implant. The day after surgery I had my energy back! Turns out I had severe. Breast implant illness,something that I heard about but never thought about. So at this point I’m flat. I was always a big busted girl all my life. So this change for me was extremely hard to accept and I was angry at cancer for doing this to me, for putting me through everything I have went through. I was really depressed from having chronic pain, ,not being able to make dinner for my kids, for crying in front on them for so many days and weeks and months,years. I also almost died two times. The first was from catching some kind of cold bug. I didn’t feel sick ,I wouldn’t have even known I caught it ,but it was during around or shortly after chemo ( time is a blur) when it was easy to get sick cause my body defer were down super low. I drove to my sisters cause I felt like I was tired because I was depressed ,but then I knew I shouldn’t have been driving, something was off. Once she saw me she took me to the hospital and I was rushed to the er and the doctors and nurses saved my life. side note: nurses are the best humans on earth. They are so incredibly kind and they care,more than anyone. Thank you to every single nurse ever! The second time was when I had internal bleeding from some of the meds I was taking for my chronic knee pain. One night I was alone.i woke up around 1am puking for hours on end. Made It to the couch cause sometimes that helps when I’m sick. around 4am I started bleeding from places that I shouldn’t bleeding from. At that point it felt like I was floating . Just a thought in existence,and nothing else. I called the ambulance, I was losing my eyesight, couldn’t feel my body, my body was dying. Got to the hospital and the doc said i needed blood, I have never done this and was scared. He said if I don’t start getting blood in 5 minutes I would die that night. I told myself I couldn’t beat cancer and then die from medicine. It took like 5 pints of blood before they got me regulated. They thought I would only need one or two. So after all of this I am mentally broken. But I am working everyday to get stronger. I can now make dinner and lunches for my kids!! Thanks to pain meds. I can walk with with them now and do things and go out and we laugh till our stomachs hurt ,a lot! I couldn’t have gotten through this if I didn’t have Jehovah, my kids , my family, friends , and all the gals from Shades of Pink. I pray for anyone dealing with any type of cancer, and pray they will get through it. Thank you