Maria's Story
Maria, a breast cancer survivor, shares her story to raise awareness about the importance of early detection and diagnosis.
I’m sharing my cancer story to encourage procrastinators like myself to get their mammograms done. Me, I had my very first mammogram at the age of 52. A few family friends had recently been diagnosed with cancer. This is what motivated me to go ahead get it done. I am so glad I did.
From the day I walked into the beautiful Women’s Health Center (WHC) at Swedish Hospital I felt like royalty. I felt healthy and had not experienced any major health problems so far in my life. That’s why I felt confident that the mammogram would come back negative. This, of course, is not what happened.
Instead, I was called back for an ultrasound and then again for a biopsy on Valentine’s Day. The biopsy came back positive. The diagnosis was invasive ductal carcinoma, grade two. Now I was scared. The medical staff at Swedish Hospital said it was time for war!
My first battle in the war on cancer would be surgery. We took off running with appointments with two of my best generals. These appointments were scheduled soon after the point of diagnosis. First, I met with my surgeon, Dr, Mizera. She shared so much information with my husband, the king, and myself about what she knew at that point about the enemy and all possible battle strategies. She was so warm and caring and answered all our questions in great detail.
A few days later, I was back for an information session with Linda at the WHC. She was equally knowledgeable in cancer warfare and supportive in every way. This introductory process was very reassuring to both me and the king. It made us feel prepared and confident that we could win this battle!
The king and I already had a trip scheduled to Mexico. Dr. Mizera told us not to cancel our trip, so we went and had a wonderful time on Isla Mujeres. We returned to Chicago ready for battle!
Two days after our plane landed at O’Hare it was time for surgery, aka a full day of battle. They inserted a wire to mark the location of the tumor, drew blood, conducted a battery of tests and cut me open. For much of it I was blissfully asleep. With the support of her army, Dr. Mizera killed the enemy tumor and three lymph node enemy spies. The tumor turned out a little larger than what had been assessed using diagnostics testing including MRI. This increased my diagnosis to 1B.
The king spent the whole day in the hospital while I was getting the procedures done. The staff updated him on my progress throughout the day so that he could provide regular reports back to the queen’s mother and the princesses.
After surgery I ended up spending a few days healing on the sofa at home. The “Pillow Talk” support pillow lovingly crafted by the Norwood Park Seniors was a godsend at this time. It provided great support to my wounded breast and acted like a security blanket for me the first days after surgery. I didn’t go anywhere without my pillow.
The next stage of cancer battle for me after the surgical incision had healed was six weeks of radiation therapy. I was worried about how the daily radiation appointments would affect my work as ruling architect downtown. Another worry at the time was how the treatments would affect my strength. It really turned out much more manageable than I had expected.
The Radiology Department arranged for me to get an early morning appointment so that there would be minimum disruption to my daily schedule. My friendly foot soldiers, Terry and Anetta made the daily blitzkrieg attacks feel almost like a spa visit. They were so sweet and gentle with me every single morning. Every Wednesday I saw the friendly radiologist, Dr. Schreiber and his diligent nurse Susie. They checked my war wounds and assured that I was fit for battle.
Lucky for me, I did not need chemotherapy. This is thanks to new research that had ruled out chemo in cases like mine. The last step in my treatment plan will last for at least five years. I need to take daily estrogen blockers to prevent the invasion of enemy tumors. These are pills that I take once a day along with tri-monthly injections by Dr. Lambiaise, my wonderful oncologist. Piece of cake!
Now, a message to all the procrastinators out there. Thanks to early diagnosis my breast cancer was found at an early stage. If I would have decided to wait a few more years for that first mammogram, who knows how things would have turned out…
Last, but not least, I want to thank all the staff at Swedish Hospital who made me feel like royalty throughout this entire process. You all helped in making this experience so much less pain-full for me and my family. Thank you so much!
To schedule a mammogram, request an appointment or call 773-878-6888.
Published October 1, 2019
