Florence Mayes

In August, 2001, my husband had a heart attack, so he had to retire.  I said if we can sell our house I will take early retirement.  We sold our house and most of our stuff, moved into our motorhome to set out exploring our country.   I went to give blood as usual, and they said there was something going on and they couldn’t use my blood this time.  Then I went to the doctor in December 2001 for a full physical before we took off.  They found “something” on a mammogram and requested I come in for a more sophisticated test.  I did, and we hit the road.  The doctor that performed the new test called me on the first Sunday in January and said I have to tell you, you have what appears to be cancer.  We immediately pulled off the road, went to the first campground I could find and I got on the internet.  The next day, we went to see the doctor. They wanted to do a surgical biopsy in 3-4 weeks.  I said nope.  Cancer or not, I want this out as soon as possible.  In 10 days I underwent the first surgery. It was stage 3, lobular cancer.  I went back for 2 more surgeries, one to get a clear margin, the other to put in the port for chemo.  The day my Aunt died of breast cancer, I began my first round of chemo.  It was rough, I got pneumonia, they had to stop chemo, get me better and begin again.  I took 3 rounds of chemo.  Then I began my 33 days of radiation.  It took a year and a half to complete all my treatments.  They left the catheter port in for 5 years, they were so sure the cancer would return.  We traveled, but returned every 3 months for tests and to clean the catheter port.  I took arimidex for 5 years, the gold standard at that time, then another drug (can’t remember the name) for 3 more years.  Finally I graduated to an exam every 6 months, and at 12 years, I only had a yearly exam.  I am cancer free now, call it remission or what ever you want, I call it done.