The symptoms for breast cancer can be quite varied. Franca shares her experience so others won’t overlook the same signs.
Franca

My name is Franca, I am 48 and a 1 year breast cancer survivor.  Finding out that I had breast cancer was the most devastating part of my life.  I went through all the emotions, why me, am I going to be okay etc.  I was one of those women who faithfully checked for lumps and the shocking part of this was that there was no palpable lump, my only symptom was constant pain for about 2 years.  After I got over the initial shock of my life, I had to make a decision, am I going to fight this horrible disease or let it take over?  Well I never really realized what a strong person I really am.  I accepted what I had and just continued on with daily life.

my-pookie-sarahI couldn’t not have gotten through all of this though without the support of my wonderful family.

My husband Tony that stood by me through this whole ordeal and two wonderful daughters Ashley and Sarah.  My oldest daughter Ashley took time to bring me to most of my treatments and would bring me shopping etc.  Then there is my Sarah, who has a developmental delay, who just brightened my day everyday by telling me everyday that she loved me and that i was going to be okay.  You dont know how much that meant to me hearing that from a Special Child.

Having my wonderful family by my side through all this has made it easier.  I have a wonderful support team stemming from my wonderful mother Anna, wonderful sisters blog02Rosa and Mary, my cousin Franca who is like a sister to me, and so many wonderful caring friends.

Having been diagnosed with cancer you realize who the people are that really do care about you, and I love them all very much.  I hope that all women/men will listen to their body and if there is anything other than a lump, like pain to please check it out, it can save your life.