Delores Williams, Chesterfield September 11 and Breast Cancer

I am a breast cancer survivor. I feel very lucky, as my breast cancer was discovered on Sept. 11 .

I was 60 years old and looking forward to a very active and social retirement. On the day that the Twin Towers in New York City were hit, I was waiting for a friend to go to the World Golf Championship Series at Bellerive Country Club and saw the towers collapsing while watching the “Today” show. We went, knowing what had happened in NYC, and I kept listening through radio earphones, everyone around wanting news reports.

The golf tournament, of course, was canceled.

Later that day, I received word that my biopsy showed a malignancy. My annual mammogram, which I had gotten religiously for several years, spotted the problem.

I had breast cancer. A chilling thought. This was not the first time in my life that I feared I might die of breast cancer. When I was 18, I found lumps in that same breast. They were removed and proved to be benign, but not until after a period of worry.

In 2001, my surgeon assured me that my cancer was small and most likely could be handled by a lumpectomy and radiation. My first concern was a cruise we had planned the first of October with our children ... should I wait to start treatment? My surgeon assured me that I could and I did.

That was 11 years ago and I have not had a recurrence. My surgeon says I can never say I am completely in remission, as the treatment is not as radical, especially on small, slow-growing tumors.

I have a mammogram every year and do breast self-examination. I also support breast cancer organizations like Komen, Missouri Women’s Council and the American Cancer Society, because I am one of the lucky ones.

My best friend was diagnosed with breast cancer before the Race for the Cure last year, and we walked together. With a bad knee (me) and a bad hip (her), we’ll try it again this year!

We are the lucky ones!

Delores Williams, Chesterfield

Comments

Kate Jackson Breast Cancer a flash back

THE MOST MOMENTOUS CHANGE IN Kate Jackson's life began early one morning in January 1987, during her fourth season on the hit TV series Scarecrow and Mrs. King. After a phone call informed her that the show's taping was canceled because costar Bruce Boxleitner had the flu, Jackson went back to sleep. When she woke several hours later, "It was out of the blue, but perfectly clear," she recalls. "I sat up in bed and literally said, 'You have to have a mammogram.' " She did, and two days later a biopsy confirmed her vague fears: A minute growth found in her left breast was determined to be malignant. "I was forced to face, squared up, my own mortality," says Jackson. "I had to decide whether I wanted to live or to die. And if you choose life, as I did, it's never the same." For three TV seasons 16 years ago, she was famous as Sabrina Duncan, a girl-next-door gone glamorous and the character critics dubbed the brainiest o

"Hard nipples" - areola or nipple skin

Someone once wrote"... when i get really cold, or get goosebumbs all over my body, the whole things really scrunch up, like, my entire areola scrunches itself up into a wrinkled little mound. it looks really weird and ugly, and i haven't ever seen other people's breasts do it. what is wrong with my areola/nipples??" The answer: Well nothing is wrong. This is what my areola does too. It's a normal reaction to the coldness or to irritation / stimulation. The little muscles in the areola do a similar goosebump thing as your other skin can do. People often call this phenomenon "hard nipples". Also note that skin on areola has less feeling or sensation to it than other areas of your body. If the areola was very sensitive, then breastfeeding would probably be quite uncomfortable because the baby pulls and tugs it! The nipples are sensitive but the sensitivity changes with hormonal changes, such as occur at mestrual cycle or pregnancy. Also this v

The four stages of breast development

In Stage 1 shows the flat breasts of childhood. By Stage 2, breast buds are formed as milk ducts and fat tissue develop. In Stage 3, the breast become round and full, and the areola darkens. Stage 4 shows fully mature breasts. (Illustration by GGS Information Services.) period begins. Usually these signs are accompanied by the appearance of pubic hair and hair under the arms. Once ovulation and menstruation begin, the maturing of the breasts begins with the formation of secretory glands at the end of the milk ducts. The breasts and duct system continue to grow and mature with the development of many glands and lobules. The rate at which breasts grow varies significantly and is different for each young woman. Breast development occurs in five stages: Stage One: In preadolescence, the breasts are flat and only the tip of the nipple is raised. Stage Two: Buds appear, breast and nipple are raised, fat tissue begins to form and the areola (dark area of skin that surrounds

I am still a woman - Confessions of a twice cancer survivor - my journey by Nina Ann McCurley

Search This Blog