Surviving Breast Cancer – Tricia’s Story

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the United States. That being said, there are 2.9 million breast cancer survivors in the United States today. Tricia's sister is one of them:

"Laura is my youngest sister. She turned 44 on September 23rd, one day before I turned 46. She is the light of my life and always has been. So when she was diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer earlier this year, I was devastated. She usually gets her annual ob-gyn exam done in the summer, but last summer, she got her gall bladder taken out and my nephew also had some medical situations that needed to be attended to.

It was November before she got around to getting her mammogram. She got a call from her doctor that there was a spot they wanted to see on another mammogram. She ended up getting two more before they diagnosed the spot as a cancerous tumor. Thank God it was caught early. Strangely enough, if she had gone in the summer as she normally does, the mammogram might not have picked up the spot.

She had a lumpectomy done and a round of radiation that left her weak and burned, but healthy. She is doing so much better now, thank God.

I can't tell [you] enough - please, please, please, get your annual exams done. Get a baseline mammogram when you are 40, or whenever your doctor recommends it. My beautiful sister is proof positive that early detection is the best prevention against breast cancer."

Share your story of how breast cancer changed your life, and what you have done to help, heal, or survive. Email it to mike@ksii.com and please attach a few photos. It is my hope that your story will give people who are fighting the fight hope.