Breast Cancer Awareness

I'm sure all of you know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Many of you may not know that it is near and dear to my heart because I lost one of my dearest friends to breast cancer five years ago.

Vickie was first diagnosed when she found a lump in her breast. She had it removed and biopsied and it was cancer. The doctors started her on chemotherapy. Chemo was extremely hard on her. They started giving her medication to help and she would "go to the Bahamas" for about 10 days. That was her way of saying that she would sleep straight through those days after chemo. After chemo she started radiation which was much easier on her. She even came back to work during radiation. In October she was given a clean bill of health. In February/March she started having back pain. They told her it was her sciatic and started her on physical therapy. Not much longer she started getting really tired and couldn't keep food down. They found an ulcerated tumor in her stomach. Once tested, it too proved to be cancerous. She went in for surgery and they found her stomach cavity was full of tumors. She decided then that she was not going to try and fight it, chemo was too much for her to face to only extend her life by a few months. She then had a seizure and they found tumors in her brain. Vickie passed away on June 9, 2004. She told me as she was going through all of this that if anything good came out of her situation it would be for all the women who knew her to get their yearly check ups. She had gone nine years without going to the doctor. And since with breast cancer early detection is best chances are if they had found it earlier, it wouldn't have spread so much. Vickie was an angel here on Earth. She was the sweetest person in the world who was willing to do anything for anybody! She is truly missed!

So, my plea to all my friends and family is to please, please, PLEASE go for your yearly check ups, etc. I really hope that no one else in my life is touched by this terrible disease but if they have to be that it's detected early.