eileen s

I found a lump in my breast at the age of 56 while in india on business and eventually asked my husband to call and make an appointment with my doctor back in new york. It turned out I had stage 2 TNBC, 11 months after a completely clear mammogram, which tells you how fast this cancer grows. I had a lumpectomy 5 days after my diagnosis and then had 8 treatments of dose dense chemotherapy -- 4 of Adriamycin and other lesser cytotoxins (Adriamycin is actually nicknamed the red devil not the red death as Time magazine mistakenly said and is not really so bad at all) and 4 of taxol. I lost every hair on my head and body including my eyelashes and nose hair but otherwise completely lived my life including eating a lot of red meat (which in my opinion helps combat the loss of red blood cells) and vodka martinis. And then a full course of radiation of my breast which took me out of work every day for almost 3 months.

anyway that was almost 10 years ago. since then I have done 14 39 mile walks for the avon foundation and have gained 6 grandsons who are the love of my life. my life is pretty wonderful and I learned a huge amount about what is and is not important in life. and I wish the same for all of you.