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Facing the Challenge of Breast Cancer

One Woman's Story of Breast Cancer Survival

By Gwen Morrison

On October 1, 1996, Lisa Caldwell from Katonah, N.Y., underwent a mastectomy and removal of 12 axillary lymph nodes. It was the first day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

In July of that year, Caldwell discovered two lumps in her breast. She immediately contacted her gynecologist to schedule a mammogram, just to be on the safe side. "The results came back as 'dense tissue,'" says Caldwell. "This meant that they couldn't read the lumps because they couldn't see through the tissue. This is a problem with pre-menopausal women – the muscle hasn't turned to fat yet which is much easier to read."

At the relatively young age of 36, Caldwell was not in a high-risk group. Her age combined with the fact that there was no history of breast cancer in her family was encouraging to the physician. She decided they should take a "wait and see" approach, with the understanding that if Caldwell wanted further testing before the six-month mark, that was up to her.

"I had a kind of 'healing angel' story," Caldwell says. "I woke up in the middle of the night to a silver white light pouring into the tent – the sound of a voice telling me to feel the lumps. The voice said 'feel the lumps; they're getting bigger.'"

The strange event left her uneasy, and she decided to make an appointment to see her doctor again the next week to have an ultrasound done on her breast. Soon after, she went in for an excisional biopsy where the surgeons removed the lumps. It was an uncomfortable procedure but Caldwell knew it was worth the discomfort to be positive that what she had was indeed just "lumpy breasts."

Caldwell was at work just three days later when the call came. "First of all I was told to find a place to sit down," Caldwell says. "Right then I knew that I wasn't going to like what I heard. 'You have breast cancer,' is what he said. He told me I had two tumors in my breast, both cancer."

Want to see more?

• Breast Cancer: Get the Facts
• The Breast Cancer Quiz
• Pregnancy After Breast Cancer: One Woman's Experience
• Check out our Article Library.
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