|
GLADIATOR CHICK
Sylvania
by Alan Ann, Chicago, Illinois
In February, 2004, my sister found a large lump in her right breast.
She called her doctor and scheduled an appointment. After being
tested, she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. After more tests and a
biopsy, she was scheduled for surgery. The plan was to remove the
lump, which at that time was the size of an apple; then chemotherapy
with radiation and ultimately a total mastectomy.
Of course this was extremely
shocking to us all. The shock, the hoping, the praying, the
screaming and the crying, we were devastated. The only thing that
holds us together is the love we have for our sister, the support we
want to give her, and the strength of our faith.
My sister is 34 years old, the
third youngest of 8 sisters of 13 children belonging to the same mom
and dad. We are from Chicago, Illinois. My sister is so strong and
positive; it is difficult accepting the fact that she is ill. Breast
cancer is no where in our family medical history not on our mom's
side, nor our dad's. My sister is married and has 3 very beautiful
sons. My sister has the face of an angel and a very sweet voice. She
all so has the courage of a lion, the strength a tiger and the inner
peace of a dove.
On March 8, 2004, nine of us were
at the hospital. We were with her up to the time they took her into
surgery. We sat there nervous, praying and hoping that the fear
gripping us would finally be over. We were hoping that it would all
be over and my sister would just start from here. We were told that
she could even go back home with us after the surgery.
After about an hour into the
surgery, the doctor comes out and asks to speak with the family in
the conference room. He tells us that after seeing my sister's
breast he could not perform the surgery. The lump had doubled in
size and now covered a third of her breast. He said that he needed
permission from her husband to do a full biopsy; they would test
that and start my sister on chemotherapy. We were devastated and the
fear for our sister ripped at us - again! The plan now was to give
as much chemotherapy as my sister could take, shrink the lump, then
do the mastectomy.
After this development, I felt that
I did not understand the full story of what type of cancer my sister
had. I had to be alone to just cry and think. I felt so helpless;
there was nothing that I could do to stop this from happening to my
little sister, whom I can remember from my mother's womb even before
they brought her home in her tiny pink outfit. Finally, it came to
me - knowledge is power; people can be destroyed from lack of
information. Therefore, I decided to get informed and gain some
wisdom. I came home after visiting with my sister and got on the
Internet. I searched for hours on into the next day. I read about
stages, treatments, life expectancy, success stories and finally I
discovered what type of cancer my sister had Inflammatory Breast
Cancer.
Again, I was devastated; I could
not talk to my family because I was afraid to tell them what I had
discovered. Again, every time I thought about the IBC, I started
crying and screaming. The next day, I was scheduled to travel to St.
Louis and was unsure if I could do it I spoke with my sister and she
said that I should go and that she was worried about me. Can you
believe her? She is worried about me, WOW! She is an incredible
person, but what that said to me was that she needed me.
I'm he oldest of the 13, and I felt
for my sister's sake I must get it together. I began to ready GOD
CREATIVE POWER, will work for you by Charles Capps. I read it on my
flight; I began to feel better. I felt so good that when I arrived
in St. Louis, I called my sister to check in on her and let her know
that I was fine and to not worry about me. I spent the entire day
writing prayers and reading the bible. I shared all of this with my
sister. She even has posters with these prayers on the walls in her
bedroom!
My sister's chemo treatments will
last for 6 months. She has treatment once a week through June with
the Cytoxan and Adriamysin. Then in July she will be treated with
Taxol, used to treat difficult types of tumors, hopefully it will
stop the cancer cells from dividing and growing. I will continue to
do research on her condition, follow her treatment plan and put
together 'God Medicine' through out her treatment.
Back
to Chick Names
|
