Well, I heard those terrible words....”you have breast cancer”. I was shocked. It was April 2006 and I was only 43. I was just 90 days into a new job, my daughter was graduating from high school and would be starting college in the fall. and for the past 10 years, I had been through 4 recurrences of my husband’s cancer, Hodgkin’s Disease and a Stem Cell Transplant. I told the oncologist that I was sitting the the wrong chair. For the past 10 years, I was the supportive wife helping my husband through his chemotherapy, radiation treatments, home health car providers and surgeries to include bilateral hip replacements from all of the steroids. I had always been healthy only going to the doctor when something was wrong. I was in the wrong chair! Two weeks after the news, I had a lumpectomy. My Invasive Ductal Carcinoma produced a 3 mm tumor. I was relieved to have the tumor removed and the margins were 97% clean. Was that good news? Within a few more weeks, I’m sitting in a recliner getting my first round of chemotherapy (ACT A-Adriamycin, C-Cytoxan, T-Taxotere). I remembered my husband’s nausea, mouth sores and constant pain. Can I do this? To my amazement, I was able to not only take the 18 weeks of chemotherapy but worked full time without too many problems. The anti-nausea medication was wonderful and allowed me to function somewhat normally. Yes, I was tired but kept moving. Now, I’m 14 treatments into 32 of Radiation Therapy. I’m not experiencing any side effect thus and hope that I’m as successful in going through these treatments like the chemotherapy. I’ll keep you posted. Why am I adding this information to my web site? I wanted to publicly thank all the people who have been supportive of my treatment. In no particular order, they are as follows: 1. My Family!!!! 2. The many friends and churches who have me on their prayer lists. 3. My employer, Steven H. Garfinkel, Esq. He is an awesome Board Certified Immigration Specialist in Immigration Law. Please visit his web site Garfinkel Immigration Law Firm. You can see our awesome team! 4. My husband’s employer and the entire staff at Guy M. Turner, Inc. 5. My former employer, Michael A. DeMayo, Esq. and my former co-workers. They are fabulous and are focused on helping people who are injured Please visit their web site at Demayo Law Offices. 6. My medical service providers: a. Al D. Hudson, M.D.
b. Teresa S. Flippo, MD, F.A.C.S.
c. Steven A. Limentani, MD
d. Robert W. Fraser, M.D.
- I’m very fortunate to have these wonderful people helping me through this trying time. I feel blessed be able to thank them!
| 
