2010 has been hard.
Earlier this year, I was diagnosed with Cervical Cancer and luckily I was treated with a radical hysterectomy and came through with no requirements for chemo or radiation. All clear.
Less than one month later, I found a lump in my right breast, when to my family doctor and thankfully, she moved everything along so quickly. Had a mammogram and breast ultrasound and on July 5th, was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.
Carol never let cancer or negative outlooks diminish her hope for a baby. She’d like to introduce her beautiful daughter: Sydney Hope!
My husband and I had tried for years to have a baby and then 3 years ago I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.
I underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatment which I knew would lower my chances of ever conceiving a child. After my treatments were finished, I found out I tested positive for the BRCA1 gene. At this time, the doctor looked at my file and told me it was very unlikely that my husband and I would conceive a child on our own and that fertility treatments were not recommended. Fortunately, we had already decided that they were not an option since we had already been through it.
Two days later I found out I was pregnant and gave birth to a beautiful, healthy baby girl! We named her Sydney Hope because I never gave up hope that I would have my own child and she is my miracle!!! I am told that my oncologist and her nurses still talk about my case!
This year I took my daughter in her first (and certainly not her last) Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure!
- Carol
When talented soprano Virginia was diagnosed with breast cancer she focused on the future
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer in April of 2009, my heart pounded and a lump formed in my throat at the thought of telling my mother.
She had been through so much – we lost my younger brother two years before that – and now I would be struggling, and would need her more than ever. But she was amazing! She made the four-hour return trip to Toronto from our family farm in eastern Ontario more than seventeen times during the spring and summer of 2009, to accompany me to appointments, tests, treatments. We stopped counting after seventeen. Through four months of chemotherapy, surgery, and six weeks of radiation, she was always there for me and our whole family.
My mom, Janet Robichaud is a breast cancer survivor. She was diagnosed with this terrible disease in October 2008. At the time I was approximately 3 months pregnant with my second child. I was giving my 4 year old a bath and my mom sat down beside me on the floor and said she had something to tell me. That’s when she said she had breast cancer. This was definitely not something I had ever imagined. She was told she was Stage 0 and everything was going to be ok. A couple of weeks later we realized it was not Stage 0. She never did tell us what stage she was, as we think she didn’t want to make us worry about her nor did she want to be looked at differently. She wanted to enjoy being alive and well after she had gone through the experience with chemo and radiation. She had a mastectomy on the left side as well as lymph nodes removed. She stayed strong with the support of her friends and family. She always had a positive attitude and knew she was going to defeat this disease.
My husband, who lost his previous wife to cancer at the age of 35, was able to help her out with questions she had and answers she was looking for. She is a fighter…she knew it was not her time to go yet.
She just went back to work this month as a Operating Room nurse at the General Hospital in Ottawa. With all the love and support of her family and friends she is still with us here today! I will be running at the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure in her honour. She is on a Mediterranean Cruise at this moment and won’t be able to attend the Run for the Cure but is so happy that I got so involved. I have so far raised $1,550. This feels really good. We have so many great people in our lives that helped me reach my goal. Thanks to all of you!!
- Rachel
Today we remember Cecile.
You may remember Melanya from her previous blog postings or her appearance in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure 2010 video. Today she shares some photos from her sister-in-law’s, Cecile’s, memorial.
Soon after the 2009 Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure, Cecile passed away. A memorial was held in her memory. After the mass, family and friends gathered together in the church’s basement where a display of Cecile’s life was honoured. Cecile left a career in the city as a corporate auditor to pursue her artistic passion as a glass artist in Craigleith Ontario. Her art developed into the form of jewellery and she had a pink line of which proceeds were donated towards breast cancer prevention. Her jewellery partner and sister Marianne continues to make this jewellery and fundraise to find a cure.
I am team captain of the GoodLife OPS Mod Squad team and I run for my boss who is a breast cancer survivor Kathleen and my sister in law Cecile who died from cancer originating in her breast.
- Melanya
Finding Hope, the blog for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, invites you to tell your inspiring stories of personal experiences with breast cancer and become part of the wider community of Canadians who have been touched by breast cancer.