Emma Yates, Rider
3 year survivor.
Diagnosed: 2006. Age: 38.
I was not going to allow the cancer to control my life
I was 36 years old, mother of a wonderful daughter Elizabeth, nearly 4 years old, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was in June 2006 that I first felt the lump in my left breast. Initially I told myself that I was being silly, I had just had my annual check-up four months before and everything appeared to be fine. Besides, I told myself, wasn’t I too young and there was no history of breast cancer in my family. A couple of weeks later a friend of mine had a scare with a shadow on an x-ray. Thankfully everything was fine. A short while after that, a colleague at work mentioned about going for her annual mammogram. I decided that God was telling me that perhaps I needed to get that lump checked out. I made the appointment and after two scans, a mammogram and a biopsy I found out that I had breast cancer. I was in shock, “there must be some mistake, you’re getting me mixed up with someone else”. Initially I couldn’t bring myself to say that I had breast cancer, it was “a malignant lump in my breast”. My first thoughts were about my daughter and whether I had passed on some awful hereditary disease to her, but, as it turned out, it was through her that I found the strength and determination to get through.
I opted for a unilateral mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. Tests later revealed that seven out of fourteen nodes were positive and that I was Her2+. Once I had healed sufficiently from my surgery, I started with chemotherapy and Herceptin, followed by five weeks of radiation. I never viewed my treatment with contempt, but felt fortunate and blessed to be able to receive treatment. In fact I had expected to feel a lot worse than I felt. I continued to work during treatment, albeit with several more sick days than usual; working in a half day position helped tremendously as well. I was determined that I was not going to allow the cancer to control my life and that I was going to beat this. One good thing was that after all the treatment my husband finally gave in to my request for a motorbike!
When I initially found out that I had breast cancer I was really scared, but the more I read and listened to survivors’ stories, the more hope and strength I gained. If I can give back some of that hope to just one person, I will feel proud. Joining the Journey of Hope ride gives me the chance to give hope to others and I feel honored to be a part of this wonderful journey.
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