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Becca’s Fight Like A Girl Story (Breast Cancer)

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May
15
2013
Breast Cancer

I have a slightly different story. I got connected to ’Fight Like a Girl Club’ because I lost my Daddy to cancer. It was last February and I was 39. As someone left behind because of cancer, I felt that I could benefit by reading stories and sharing with this site. I felt that those of who lived with it day after day need the encouragement too. I thought that would be where my story would end, but I was wrong. This month (June 2012) I had my first ever mammogram and went into it only worried about how much my boob would be smashed…I had heard horror stories. Less then 24 hours, later I got a call from my doctor's nurse telling me that MDImaging had found an anomaly on my right breast and they wanted me to go back in for an immediate ultrasound. I got the call on a Friday and had to wait til Monday before they called me. That was a hard weekend for my Mom and myself. So Monday comes…I get a call…and am scheduled for Tuesday morning. I got there and just tried to be my … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Breast Cancer Stories, Personal Power Stories Tagged With: , ,

A New Way To Detect Parkinson’s Disease Early

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Oct
25
2010
Signs of Parkinson's Disease

A person with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative disease that causes problems with movement and speech, often has characteristic signs and symptoms. These include a tremor at rest, rigidity, unstable posture, slow movements, hesitant speech, and a mask-like facial expression. But these are late symptoms of the disease – and often don’t appear until the disease is more advanced. Are there ways to pick up early Parkinson’s disease - so that treatment is more effective? Early Stages of Parkinson’s Disease: A Surprising Way to Detect This Disease Surprisingly, testing a person’s sense of smell could lead to an earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found that people with early Parkinson’s disease have difficulty identifying specific odors. People with early Parkinson’s disease have no problem smelling a lemon scent. In this study Parkinson’s patients were able to identify this scent better than a control group. … [Read more...]

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Saragene’s Fight Like A Girl Story (Breast Cancer)

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Oct
10
2010
Saragene's Story 1 (Breast Cancer)

Oct 1996 I found a lump on my right breast. Of course, it was a weekend! I was fortunate to have a great primary female, woman's doctor. She saw me Monday, recommended a breast specialist, & would not let me leave until I had an appointment made. I saw the breast specialist the following week & when I opened my dressing gown, she said "Wow, I can see it!" Needless to say, it was the size of an egg and because it had grown so fast [3 wks!] we thought it was a cyst. She tried to aspirate it, but was not satisfied & scheduled an 'open biopsy' the following week. The most important part of this is to know that I had just gone thru an ugly divorce after 16yrs of marriage with 2 young female children, 11 & 14, which made me the single mom doing all this ON MY OWN! For any of you who know, info on breast cancer [most any cancer, really] in the mid-90's was not as accessable as it is today. People still were hush hush about it. Anyway, a friend dropped me off for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Breast Cancer Stories Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Early Detection Can Save Your Life!

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Aug
12
2010
Analog Mammogram vs Digital Mammogram View 1

Many of you may have heard at some point about how early detection of breast cancer (or of any cancer) can save your life. It may seem like smoke and mirrors,  but I am proof positive that early detection can save your life. I was diagnosed with invasive ductal breast cancer, the most common form of breast cancer, at the end of May.  I am 36 years old.  Since many organizations recommend that a woman have a baseline mammogram around age 35 and because I work in a radiology clinic, where I could get one done for free, I decided to go ahead and get one.  I have no family history of breast cancer and no risk factors.  In fact, had I not worked at my current job, I wouldn't have had a mammogram until age 40, as I was completely unaware that one should have a baseline mammogram.  Being honest, breast cancer is not something that I ever thought I would personally get or that anyone in my family would be afflicted with.  Even with that line of thinking, my decision to have a mammogram … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Breast Cancer Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,