Cancer and Me, I am forty- two years old when cancer became a permanent part of my own personal life. I have had lumps remove before they were not cancer. I knew what cancer can do to you, I experience that with my mothers' cancer years ago. So this was not something I was looking to see, because I thought that my other disease was going th take me out, before I get to the age that cancer would kill me. I had my first benign lump remove at the age of twenty- three. In 1989 I had a large lump that I was hospitalize for, it was in my right breast, it was taken out, it was not cancer. Then in the summer I went to the doctor, because my hormones were out of control, I was getting lumps everywhere on my body. The doctor sent me to a breast cancer, because she felt some lumps and I had problems in the past. The next months were spent in exams, test and being biopsy for breast cancer. In November the test showed that it was cancer in my right beast. Next the surgeons talked to me about what they were going to do to remove the tumor, they would do their best not to have to take the breast, just remove the cancer. I was also concern about the other lumps, that I had in other places on my body and because my left side and abdomen were causing me lots of pain, my stomach stayed blotted and I thought I might have been having with my ovaries too, so I ask the surgeons what, were they going to do about the pain in my abdomen and left side? The younger surgeon said, nothing, we are not doing anything about that. The older surgeon and the nurse walked out of the room, leaving me and the debating why not, he was right, no one as not done anything to this day. I went for a second opinion, but that fail too. I had the surgery, the doctor said the cancer had spread to my breast muscle, they said the cancer was a stage 1. They tried to put my breast back together, but two weeks later the surgeons had to do a complete mastectomy. I was given eight weeks of chemotherapy, which was not as bad as I thought it was going to be one, because I have sickle cell disease and my blood count stay so low. So for the next five years I made all of my six month check-ups. The problem with my left side and abdomen was the health problem that stocked me. Blotted stomach to the point that people would ask me when I was going to have my baby, when my stomach was really blotted, or when I was doing better what did I have, because I was not blotted today. I usually played off and said it was just RICE, I was never pregnant. The stinging in my abdomen became more progressive, by two thousand I was having stinging in my head, ribs and pelvis, my walking was becoming more difficult for me to stand or walk. My oncologist said it was just my SC disease, but I knew this pain was different. The next two years I went to about seven or eight doctors looking for help, but I only receive more tests. Then I went to the cancer society for help, the lady there told me to try going to an internal medicine doctor, so after some months I found one who would see me. She did some more tests and scans too, and I receive a call to come in, she had the results. A friend took me, I was glad to have someone with me when I heard the results, it looked like the cancer is on your skull, rib and pelvis, she asked me had I started to lose function of my body control. I told her no, not at this time. I went looking for a second opinion, before getting treatment cancer, something changed after my treatment back in 1995, I wanted to be sure, although I know something was wrong, from the way my body was hurting, since 2000. I had tests by a cancer doctor back than, his facial expression told me something was not good, but he said I was fine, but I could not forget that look when I went for my results for him. That look was one or two things. There was something there on the in my records or he thought I had something to be worried about and he could go against my other physicals so because of the pa