Janie
Breast cancer was the last thing on Janie’s mind. She was too busy picking paint colors and curtains for her baby’s nursery. It took months for her to wrap her brain around becoming a single mother, but after several abortions, she decided her body wanted to have a baby, and she was going to stop fighting it. She had her baby girl’s name all picked out, the onesies and swaddle blankets washed and folded in the drawers, and the birth plan for her doula written out. Too young for routine mammograms, Janie had been getting yearly breast exams and religiously checking for lumps in the shower. Although she had no family history, she tells me she always knew she would get breast cancer. A psychic told her when she was in college. Read more ...

Jillie Bo
Jillie Bo was diagnosed in 1998 with a Stage 1 breast cancer in her left breast. She had been getting mammograms every three months after a breast biopsy in the right breast showed some atypical cells, so she was lucky to have had her cancer caught very early. Her doctor recommended radiation and chemotherapy, since she was young, only 49, and had what the doctor considered “many years ahead of her.” She opted against the chemotherapy and had only radiation, which caused severe skin burns and required that her treatment be delayed. During her treatment, her doctor referred her to a breast cancer survivor group, who came to visit her. It was good, she says, because “no one else understands how every little ache or pain makes you think it might be coming back.” They gave her a pillow that she was supposed to keep with her during her treatments. “Like a child’s blankee,” it gave her comfort. Read more ...

Judy
Judy was late getting her mammogram. After a painful divorce that meant she would have to change health insurance plans, she put it off, until she felt a breast lump. As a physician, she knew it was time to get it checked, and when she did, the mammogram showed something suspicious. After an excisional breast biopsy, the pathologist called her directly. “It’s all lymphoctyes,” the pathologist said, seeming confused. Judy knew all about lymphocytes. Before going to medical school, she studied them under microscopes as a technician studying transplant immunology. After a bone marrow biopsy and a PET scan, Judy found out that her tumor wasn’t your everyday breast cancer. It was stage 4 B-cell lymphoma, an aggressive and incurable variant of cancer. Read more ...

Susan
When Susan was 40, her doctor recommended a routine mammogram. Just before she put her breasts into the machine, the tech said, “Good luck,” and Susan knew at that moment that she had breast cancer. It was December 8, 2004 when her doctor called her with the biopsy results, but she wasn’t surprised. She took each step one day at a time. Because her risk of bilateral disease was so high, she elected to undergo bilateral mastectomies. When her mastectomy margins were positive and her sentinel node had cancer, she faced radiation and chemotherapy as the logical next steps. She had tissue expanders placed to prepare for reconstruction and had implants. But just before her celebratory trip to Hawaii, the incision over the implant opened, leaving a gaping hole in her breast with the implant exposed. Read more ...