Introduction
i’m sandhya bihani and i’m 57 years old i’m mother of two a daughter and a son january of 2019 is when i was diagnosed with breast cancer i had my surgery a lumpectomy i also went through chemo after that i had my radiation and now i’m going through my herceptin infusion which will be for at least a year i was a person who was very reluctant on having my mammograms my ob gy would say oh annual mammograms routine i have no history of breast cancer in my family and i said okay before i go see my ob gy i’m going to have my mammogram done i went for my mammogram and then my routine mammogram test they found it and then they recommended biopsy and that’s how they found it it was stage one her2 positive breast cancer breast cancer
Finding Community and Guidance at Mayo
this journey and all that’s uh mayo has to offer the coffee and conversation the one that susan kane organizes for breast cancer patient which is once a month at mayo clinic to me that is very important because there are subjects or in information that’s shared during those conversation is very relevant to what i’m going through as a cancer patient there are a lot of experts or doctors or care providers who come and speak or share their knowledge and experience is something that i’m looking firsthand so instead of going and buying a book or trying to read online and not knowing i’m if i’m getting the correct information coming here once a month being with others who are going through similar breast cancer or other cancer treatment like i am being surrounded by them and sharing our experience laughing talking along with a cup of coffee and at the same time getting all the information that is pertinent to my treatment or something i may have missed i may have not even known all that information that they provide is vital and i look forward every month coming and being part of this coffee with conversation
Attitude with Gratitude
my motto is attitude with gratitude if you have the right attitude and at the same time having gratitude for all the people everybody professionals your family friends who are helping you in this journey to appreciate them and be thankful for everything that you have the future looks so bright the future is awesome because i know i’m in the right place i’ve got the right treatment everything is falling in place so we look forward to seeing every stage in our life with a lot of love and enjoy every moment that we have
Vernice’s Story: Finding Peace Through Answers
my name is vernice grossglass i’m going to be 54 very shortly i am here because i was asked to talk about my journey with breast cancer i was diagnosed last april 2018 triple negative stage two when i discovered my own breast cancer i immediately mayo was the first name that popped in my head i feel like they are family because i’m here i was here all the time and you have a team of professionals and it seems like they just focused just on you and i know that there are other patients but it just felt like you know the attention was on me and let’s see what we can do to help her and i just they were just wonderful and i just felt like i knew i came to the right place and that they were going to help me eradicate my breast cancer then you know i thought okay this this can’t be happening to me not no why me and then i thought okay i don’t want to die i i have i have a lot to see i want to see my son get married i want to see my first grandchild and so i was scared because i didn’t have answers and once i got the answers from mayo then i was at peace with everything what was fixing to happen to me they gave me a plan of what they were planning on doing and i was like okay let’s do this
Support Systems and Shared Strength
i also have you know two other friends that also went through breast cancer at the same time i did and we all had the same type of breast cancer so i already had a support group and we would just talk and ask each other how we’re doing and what’s going on with your treatments and so i really do think that having other people you know talking with other people who’ve experienced the same thing as you just kind of makes you feel like okay i’m not alone this does happen to ordinary people and it just it is what it is but we’re you know we’re gonna survive we’re fighters so and i’m definitely a fighter and i’m feeling great now so talk with other people if you have fears because i think that talking is good therapy just and even if you’re talking to someone who’s never experienced it before it’s just good therapy to talk about it get it off your chest and and share your feelings of how you’re feeling and i going through it i also had my moments of depression i had meltdowns by myself you know feeling sorry for myself but like i said once i got the answers i felt at peace with everything and i knew that i had good people helping me which is dr mclaughlin doctor chelmsford dr rinker and all the nurses everybody they were just wonderful and so definitely talk you know just share your stories because that that’s good therapy right there um the other women that i encountered while being here we we would talk and they would with their experiences because they were like survivors and they would tell me what worked for them what didn’t work for them yeah just having answers that’s key to having answers because then you know what you’re dealing with and then just you work your life into that and just don’t let cancer stop you from doing the things that you enjoy doing you know and that’s life the rest is history but i feel great
Dave’s Story: A Call to Men
my name is dave wiggum i’m 60 years old and i’m a currently in treatment for breast cancer here at mayo i was in the shower one morning and felt a little something on the side of my nipple and so i mentioned it to my wife and she said you should talk to your doctor about that and i said oh you don’t have an appointment in a month i’ll talk to him then i remember when i first talked to my doctor about it he said well that’s probably nothing let’s get it looked at and so they did and finally the day came where they called me to tell me what the results of the biopsy were and they said actually david you do have cancer and so i was diagnosed with cancer in january of 2018 came and met with the team here at mayo and had surgery in february of 2018. you know i i don’t really have breast cancer in my family i was just the lucky one millionth customer i guess but that’s okay i never really focused on is this a male or a female disease it’s just a disease i have breasts and and there’s a there was cancer in them um so you know i would say it’s a it’s a a marathon it’s not a sprint don’t let it define you and you know keep your head up because where your mind leads your body and your your healing will follow
The Power of Support and Speaking Up
the other thing that i would tell people is and this is a big one i i tend to be very self-sufficient but you really want to have a support person come to those those those appointments with you because there were times my wife would say oh she said this and i wouldn’t have that in my notes just because there’s so much and so having a good support person to both be there for you but also attend those appointments is really helpful i’m a very private person and so i usually don’t talk with anyone about my my private experiences i just don’t and a lady who works with me i was on the phone and i got tired of running down the hall to a conference room to talk to the doctor so i just took the call right at my desk and afterwards this lady wore something camera and she said dave i didn’t mean to listen in on your conversation but i heard it and i just want you to know you don’t have to do this alone and i said well thanks i appreciate that and that really changed things for me because i decided to tell everybody i decided to not only not keep it private but be very vocal about it because i wanted men to learn that you need to do self-examinations you know it happens it happened to me i never self-examined myself i just got lucky but i would encourage men to to talk about it to be open about giving themselves exams do that to give yourself the best chance to find something that might be there you know there’s always bumps in the road for everybody and this is a little bump for me but i found it early and i had a great team of people who are helping me deal with it i never felt funny about having breast cancer but i feel really good about being someone who can spread the word that this happens to men too and so that you need to be doing things to keep yourself safe
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