Last fall, I walked into Walmart and came face-to-face with a display of "Pink Ribbon" blankets. I felt like something was physically pushing me toward them. I looked up to God and said, "Oh no. I don't want anything to do with the Pink Ribbon!"
I had watched my mother suffer and die from breast cancer. I had held her hand when she took her last breath. I have always been afraid of the "Pink Ribbon."
The following week, I scheduled my annual mammogram, but then had to cancel twice, due to illness. Meanwhile, a friend who is a breast cancer survivor came into my store an told me that she planned to have reconstruction surgery. When I told her that I would seriously consider having prophylactic surgery and reconstruction to prevent breast cancer, she recommended that I see our local oncologist, Dr. Jack Rodriguez. So, I did.
He told me that having prophylactic surgery would reduce my chances of getting breast cancer by 90%. I decided to have the surgery, and I was prepared to do whatever it took to save my life, including mortgaging my house or having the surgery overseas, so that I could be here for my children and live to see my grandchildren.
Before scheduling the surgery I had my mammogram, which came out clear. Dr. Rodriguez told me that I had very dense breast tissue, which makes it hard to see cancer on a mammogram. I have had mammograms every year since I was 28 years old, and had never been told this before. So, I had a breast MRI, which showed masses in both breasts. Next, I had an ultrasound, which also showed two suspicious areas in each breast. I was then referred to Dr. Phillip Ley, one of the best oncology surgeons in the country.
Dr. Ley could not see clear images on the ultrasound, so he studied my breast MRI scan. But he did not find anything conclusive. I told Dr. Ley, "They are coming off. I will not go through this again." He agreed to do the surgery, but first wanted to do "random biopsies of the areas that were suspicious." Three days later, Dr. Ley called me and said, "You win. They are coming off, and so are your lymph nodes on the left side. You have noninvasive ductal carcinoma in situ!" I had breast cancer. On May 29th, I had a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction. Fortunately, because the cancer had not spread outside of the ducts to my lymph nodes, no treatments were necessary.
Had I not been for the "Pink Ribbon" blankets, or my dear friend's recommendation to see an oncologist, or my own persistence, or the "random biopsies," I would still be walking around with breast cancer like so many women are today.
The morning of my first visit with Dr. Rodriguez, I wrote a letter informing him of my family history and fears, closing with these thoughts, "Who knows, we may all be wearing t-shirts that have a pink fleur-de-lis dominating the pink ribbon, creating awareness among those who are at high risk that they do have choices!" (The fleur-de-lis is the emblem of the Virgin Mary, who is near and dear to my heart. It is the symbol of the Holy Trinity, and represents strength, courage, hope, and life. What better emblem to dominate the pink ribbon?)
A short time later, I started the "De Lis" Pre-Breast Awareness Campaign, for high-risk women. My goal is to create awareness about what it means to be high risk and what can be done if you find out you are high risk. This includes: prophylactic surgery and reconstruction to reduce breast cancer risk by 90%, taking the drug tamoxifen to reduce risk by 50%, or more frequent breast cancer screening.
Someone once asked me, "Why would you have a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction if you don't have breast cancer? You could be killed in a car accident tomorrow." I replied, "If I knew that I had an 85% chance of being killed in a car accident tomorrow, I would stay at home."
Until a cure is found we need to do what we can to protect ourselves from this deadly disease. If you are high risk, in addition to having a mammogram, you should have a breast MRI, and if needed, an ultrasound. It is expensive, but it could save your life.
When I told my friend my plans for this campaign, she asked, "Why do you care about all these other women?" I replied, "I just do." May God give all of you the strength and courage to stand up to cancer.
I have designed t-shirts with the De-Lis Logo, and Sandijams for children in support of the Delis Campaign. These can be purchased at Sandi's Fabric Outlet, 175 Hwy 61 South, Bellemont Shopping Center, Natchez, MS 39120. For more information, you can send me an email here.
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