 My name is Kelly White. I’m 42 years old, married and the mother of two beautiful daughters, Caila, 13 and Ashley 4. And I’m also a cancer survivor.
Last year about this same time I was going through what I thought would be my first routine mammogram. I didn’t feel a lump; I just felt some tenderness in my left breast. After an additional mammogram and a biopsy, I was diagnosed with stage 2 invasive ductal carcinoma on January 31, 2006. I was feeling very scared, confused and emotional after my diagnosis. It was a real shock but I never felt hopeless. It was my faith in God and belief that it was in His hands that got me through each day.
I found out about Women Supporting Women from my surgeon’s office. I first came to WSW a few days after my diagnosis. I had already decided that I would have a mastectomy, but there was so much out there to learn and just receiving and reading the first bag of information from WSW put my mind at ease.
I had my surgery a week after my diagnosis. The plan for my treatment was to have chemotherapy even if cancer was not found in the lymph nodes, due to my age. Cancer cells were found in two lymph nodes so I wanted to get chemotherapy started and finished as quickly as possible.
I made several visits to WSW before my treatment started and although I did research chemotherapy on my own, the material in the bag for survivors who have chemotherapy
answered so many more of my questions and the questions my family had. I had 8 chemo treatments from March to June. I started to lose my hair after the second treatment so I had it all
shaved off. I was somewhat shocked to see myself bald, but I was relieved that I wouldn’t have to deal with watching my hair fall out little by little. I had a treatment every two weeks and two to
three days after a treatment I would feel nauseous, tired and achy. I don’t know how I would
have gotten through it without my family, friends and church.
Now I’m feeling great and I’m excited to be a part of a new group at WSW, the Young
Survivors group. When I was first diagnosed I shared as much about my cancer as I thought each of my children could handle for their ages. Now WSW has age-appropriate backpacks for children of women who are diagnosed with breast cancer.
I am so thankful for the support of everyone at WSW and the new friends I have made. I truly believe that God can use something as scary and devastating a breast cancer to bring new hope and beauty to life.
Blessings to you, Kelly
Kelly White
Kelly’s story first appeared in our February 2007 Newsletter (view newsletter) |
