One in eight women develop breast cancer, unfortunately, my mom was one of those women. It was July 13th of 2013, my family and I were spending the night at my grandparents’ house. We were on our way to Kansas City to meet my cousins and go to a water park. Little did we know that we would leave for the vacation a family of five and head home a family of four .
My grandparents live in a small town called Manning. Manning is located in western Iowa and is about four hours away from Anamosa. The night before we were going to leave my grandparent’s house, my dad took Logan (my twin brother), Addie (my younger sister), and me to a party at an extended family member’s house. My mom had stayed at my grandparent’s house because she felt sick. This worried me, but I forgot about it as we arrived. It was just like any other party; there was food, people,and a tire swing.
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At the time we thought she had caught the flu. Logan, Addie, and I said our goodnights and went upstairs to the guest bedroom to sleep, not knowing that when we woke up our mom would not be at home. My dad came into the guest bedroom and woke us up,
“Come on, guys! Time to wake up!” we sat up stretched and looked at him,
“Earlier this morning Mom was still sick, so I took her to the hospital,” Well, young and dumb as my siblings and I were, we thought that our mother would be okay and that our vacation would only be delayed a day or two while our mom recovered from the flu, even though we had been informed three months ago that she once again had cancer.
“So after we eat waffles we will go and visit her,” my dad informed us.
We all answered with “Yay, waffles!” and went downstairs to eat breakfast. After we ate, we got dressed and walked to the hospital, which was across the street.
Once we got into the hospital, a nurse showed us our mom’s room. While we were walking our dad
The one horrific thing about cancer is that I never knew when the timer would run out on me-or how I would cope with it. Finding out my grandmother had cancer instantly hurt me almost as much as it did to say goodbye.-it felt like the beginning to and end all too quick. It all started in the hospital with chemotherapy,
Cancer is a deadly disease that millions of people die from a year. Many loved ones are killed with little to no warning affecting families across our world. My family happened to be one that was affected by this atrocious disease. This event changed the way my family members and I viewed cancer.
Breast cancer is a type of cancer originates from breast tissue, generally from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas whereas from ducts are called ductal carcinomas. (Ref: Breast Cancer, National Cancer Institute) Invasive breast cancer is breast cancer that has spread from the point of origin in the breast ducts/lobules to the surrounding normal tissue cells. In exceptional cases, breast cancer can start in at other sites in breast. Breast cancer occurs in both women and men, though male breast cancer is uncommon.
About 12% of women in the United States will develop breast cancer in their lifetime, more than any other type of cancer (www.breastcancer.org, 2015). Many people lack the knowledge of how breast cancer is developed. Some people think they will not get cancer because they do not smoke cigarettes, but this is not the only cause of cancer developing in the breast. Anyone can get cancer. Everyone is potentially at risk for developing some form of Cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015).
According to the American Cancer Society, Each year, more than 200,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer; furthermore Twelve percent of all women will contract the disease, and 3.5% of them will die from breast cancer (American Cancer Society, 2005). There are risk factors that may lead to breast cancer. There are 4 stages of breast cancer and several treatments, although treatments vary from types and stages of breast cancer. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among women who are 40 to 55 years old (Breast Cancer, 2009).Cancer occurs when cells divide uncontrollably. It changes from a normal cell to cancerous cells that require gene alterations. Therefore the altered genes and the uncontrolled growth may lead to tumors. Tumors can be benign or malignant, benign tumors are not cancerous whereas malignant are cancerous. Benign tumors will not spread, but it can damage the tissues around it. Malignant tumors invade, damage, and destroy tissues that are nearby and can spread. When cancer cells break away from a malignant tumor and enter into the bloodstream, cancer can spread throughout the body. The cancer cells from breast cancer can be found in the lymph nodes under the arm. Cancer that spreads into other parts of the body; its still has the same name as the original cancer. So basically if you are diagnosed with breast cancer and it goes into your lungs, you still have breast cancer.
In life we come across many struggles and hardships. Some have more struggles then others but we all have them. Breast cancer could be one of those struggles whether male or female. Breast cancer is not just something that a woman can get like most people believe. Anyone can get it. In this essay you will about what breast cancer is, some symptoms, how it is treated, and my personal experience with it. Most people do not know what breast cancer is they just know that it is cancer in the breast.
Today in the United States, Breast Cancer occurs in about one in eight women which is currently the most common cancer among women. The number of cases is expected to decrease due to the advancements in technology and dedicated researchers. Scientists have put an estimated 4.8 billion dollars towards the research every year to help find a cure or a new treatment for breast cancer ("STAT Facts Breast Cancer"). Researchers have found causes, put in research and theories that help with understanding treatments, prevention and also common symptoms and coping mechanisms.
Breast Cancer is defined as “a group of solid tumor malignancies arising in the tissues of the breast” (Sarah Crawford, Richard Alder, 2013) in human and other mammals. It can happen to both men and women. For women, breast cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death. According to National Cancer Institute, in the United States, the 2014 estimated new cases and deaths of female from breast cancer are 232,670 and 40,000, respectively. For male, it’s 430 deaths out of 2,360 new cases. From these numbers, we can see that women in the U.S. are greatly affected by breast cancer, thus, it’s not difficult to imagine the impact on a worldwide level. Although these numbers look frightening, people can actually survive from breast cancer if it is detected early and treated properly, so it is extremely important for all of us, especially women, to have a better understanding of breast cancer.
Breast cancer is the second most common cancer in the world (Breast). Every three minutes a woman is diagnosed: one in eight women will have breast cancer (Walgreens, 2011; Chen, 2010). “I have to admit, like so many women, I always knew there was a chance. But like so many women, I never thought it would be me. I never thought I'd hear those devastating words: 'You have breast cancer.' “- Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a democratic representative of Florida (2011).
It seemed like it would make her die, just speaking it. So I didn't tell anyone, not even my best friends. At school I would slip into a fantastical dreamland, nobody there knew that I should be troubled, pensive. I put on my best front and paraded around the school halls with some sort of smile plastered on my face. At lunchtime I'd stare at my food thinking that my friends should know. I thought of a million different ways to tell them. Each time that I came close to telling them, I would think about their potential reactions. There would be the normal lunchtime banter going on, complaints about the ranch dressing, and I would blurt out, "Hey guys, my mom has breast cancer." The whole cafeteria would turn silent and the plastic forks would drop from their hands, making a sad little clinking noise. Then I would stare at my food mentally kicking myself for having opened my mouth. I chose to say nothing. I remember very clearly the day that I went to go sit with her while she got her chemotherapy. I only did this once because it was too hard for me. I walked down an overly-lit sterile hallway trailing behind my dad. When we reached her room I wished that I could just keep walking, pretend I hadn't seen her. I went in and sat down. Her shirt was partially unbuttoned so that the IV could be inserted into the porto-cath surgically implanted under her collarbone. She was hooked up to three different kinds of poisons, and one normal IV. There were some knitting things spread across her lap and the ever present bag of lemon drops was faithfully at her side. Her head was laid back in the chair, she was tired. She and my dad tried to involve me in some nice chit-chat, I met and shook hands with the doctors and nurses, "It's nice to meet you Dr. McCoy." Yeah right. They complimented her on what a beautiful daughter she had. I blushed, smiled politely then excused myself to the bathroom. I wiped away my forming tears and gave myself a mental pep talk to be cheery. As long as I didn't look at her tired eyes I was OK. Half an hour later, she was done and we got to go home.
I have been aware that my great grandmother had breast cancer but until I started researching for this paper I didn’t really understand what exactly breast cancer was. I know it is bad and if left untreated or caught too late it is very fatal, I am really into a show called "Parenthood" and one of the characters is diagnosed. This show is so well produced that it brings you into it, I feel like I am part of the family. The character's name is Kristina, and she's a mom of three. She is in her late thirties to early forties when she has her last child and shortly after the baby is born she goes in for a mammogram and it turns out to be not what she expected. Breast cancer is not something that you know is there, it comes out of nowhere and it is not pai...
Historically speaking breast cancer has been around for hundreds of years. Thankfully the treatment has improved. Patients who get the cancer removed and take care of themselves after, for example, by exercising and eating healthy, will live longer. There are many risks that increase the likelihood of developing breast cancer, for instance, age, family history, and race. A women who made history with breast cancer was Betty Ford, Betty was one of the first lady’s to speak openly about her disease. Betty encouraged women who have been affected with the disease to go to their doctor as soon as possible and told women who had shared that they didn’t have breast cancer to do self breast exams regularly and get mammograms. She also said when women get diagnosed with it don’t be embarrassed. Treatments in the past were pretty good and quite the same compared to the treatments given to people now, for instance, mastectomy’s which was the primary...
In just 2017 alone, about 252,710 women were diagnosed with breast cancer. Breast cancer is a life changing illness; it does not only affect the person with it, but it can affect the people around them. All the people who survive breast cancer have the fight and motivation to overcome it. My friend Dylan's mom Marta had breast cancer but fought like a champ and overcame it. Marta’s strength during her battle was very inspiring to all of the people around her.
My father's eyes opened, and he called out for my sister Kelly and I to come to him. In a very serious and sad voice, he told us that he was very sick, and he was going to the Fort Wayne hospital. My mother told Kelly and I to help her pack some things for him, because he was going to be leaving soon. We helped her pack, keeping quiet because we did not want to interrupt the silence that had taken over the room.
She told me that mom needed to tell me something. She proceeded to tell me that my father had had a heart attack and that I had a choice to come down to the hospital or not to come. She told me it was a scary sight, and if I didn?t think I could handle it that I should stay home. I was overwhelmed with fear and grief at that moment that my mind just stopped working. I remember thinking all I wanted was to be with my mom and my dad.