My Journey with Breast Cancer

By Vida Saldaña

It was on May 2007, that she heard these dreaded words, You
have breast cancer.
With a blink of an eye, her world turned upside down. She
became confused, dazed and was in a state of denial.
She told herself, Get a grip of yourself. It is not the end of the world!
What happened next were the agonizing decisions.
Decisions! Decisions! Decisions!
Decisions that were made without much thought!
Do you want to be in the same predicament? Of course not!
This journal showed how the author overcame all the fears and
frustrations that accompanied this horrible disease. She refused to
accept defeat and conquered everything, not losing her sense of
humor and selfworth!
It is a story of a very strong woman a breast cancer survivor!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Oct 15, 2010
• ISBN: 9781462809660

Vida Saldaña

Vida Saldaña is from Michigan where she resides with her family. “I want to share my experience with others so other women with breast cancer will be prepared and more knowledgeable than I am, so they can make better decisions and overcome their battle with this dreadful disease.

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Copyright © 2010 by Vida Saldaña.

Copyright # 1-268023861

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1

THE PRE-DIAGNOSIS

CHAPTER 2

THE BIOPSY

CHAPTER 3

THE DIAGNOSIS

CHAPTER 4

LUMPECTOMY

CHAPTER 5

MASTECTOMY

CHAPTER 6

HOME AFTER MASTECTOMY

CHAPTER 7

THE IMPLANTS

BREAST RECONSTRUCTION

CHAPTER 8

NIPPLE RECONSTRUCTION

CHAPTER 9

TIDBITS

This book is dedicated to the loving memory of my loving parents, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin and Florentina Amog.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to thank my family for being there with me throughout my struggle and fight with breast cancer. My husband, Rolando Saldaña, who was my pillar and support in everything I did including my appointments, surgery and post surgery. To my two children; Angelica Saldaña, who was willing to set aside her graduate studies in Rome to help me, and to Edward Saldaña, who was very supportive and helpful throughout my ordeal, sickness and recuperation.

To my brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews and other relatives, especially my sister, Dr. Lea Amog-Kerr who knew the impact and seriousness of this disease; she guided me on how to proceed and what to do throughout my ordeal.

To my niece, Dr. Aimee Mabini-Davidson, who helped me form the right questions to ask my breast surgeon.

To Krystle Amog, my niece, for her support and help with my book.

Special thanks to all my friends and co-workers for their prayers and concerns.

Many thanks to all my doctors and their nurses for being nice, helpful and supportive.

Above all, to GOD and the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY for helping my family endure and cope with everything including the stress associated with my sickness. Without them, I do not know how I could have survived breast cancer.

FOREWORD

YOU HAVE BREAST CANCER. These are the words you do not want to hear from your doctor. It is synonymous with a death warrant.

You become numb, speechless and it seems like the whole world becomes still.

Then all of a sudden the whole world comes crashing down on you. Your world becomes empty and desolate, like a barren land. How many women have experienced this?

You have two choices. Do you fight with all your might to survive, or do you succumb and accept defeat to this horrible, dreaded disease? Of course not! You are going to fight!

What was my outcome? Did I fight like a wild woman, a lioness that did not accept defeat, or did I just lay back and do nothing? If you were me, what would you have done?

What were the next turn of events that unfolded? How did I know I have breast cancer? Was it because of a lump or the use of a mammogram?

What was my reaction? My family’s reactions?

What other turn of events did I encounter? Were those events expected or unexpected?

Were my reactions normal like the rest of the women who had breast cancer?

There were many questions on my mind which I encountered. I tried to find answers to no avail. One question particularly came to my mind. WHY ME?

Did I find the answers?

Read on.

INTRODUCTION

BREAST CANCER. IN AN INSTANT YOUR LIFE CHANGES IN A BLINK OF AN EYE. Intimidating! Stifling! Cataclysmic! These are some things I can think of with this disease. It is one of the most frightening episodes in my life that I had to face. A big challenge that is both scary, confusing, stressful and shocking. Did I put enough adjectives here? Ha! Ha! Ha! You bet! Kidding aside, I thought I would be immune from this dreadful disease since there is no history in my family. Yes, I thought I would not be a statistic associated with this horrible disease. I guess I was wrong. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! How many other women that have had breast cancer thought like me? Nobody is immune to this disease! I realized that now. That is why a big question comes to my mind:

Why me?

I probably share the same sentiment with many women who have breast cancer. Do you think we will ever find the answer? Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell.

I am basically a happy person. Why? Because I have been blessed with a wonderful, caring family and friends. I also have been blessed with a good job and good health. That is right! Good Health! Because until now I did not have any of the ailments or diseases associated with growing old, like high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease, just to name a few. Although I have arthritis once in a while, I consider myself healthy.

I was indeed in good health until the discovery of my cancer. The turn of events were very fast and within the blink of an eye, my whole world turned upside down. The events that came quickly unfolded one after another. I was still calm, or so it seems on the outside, but inside of me was something else. Something was brewing inside that I cannot explain. I was keeping a false front for my family and especially for myself. Don’t you think you would do the same if you have a family and you were in my shoes?

I was in a state of denial. Deep inside I was scared and searching for answers. Why me? What have I done to deserve this? There were a lot of questions running in my mind which I am sure many breast cancer patients share with me.

How did I get breast cancer?

I am not sure. There are many factors listed in several breast cancer books. The factors that were related to me might be a combination of many things. One of my relatives told me that I have a lot of stress. Who does not have stress nowadays? It might also be my age. Why? How old are you? I am a woman, and women do not divulge their age! Ha! Ha! Ha! I got you!!!

I am not going to argue with anyone of how I got this dreaded disease but I know I am afflicted with this disease now, and I belong to the statistics of women with breast cancer. How sad it is for me and my family!

How did I find out that I have breast cancer?

Continue reading.

CHAPTER 1

THE PRE-DIAGNOSIS

How did it start? It started in May, 2007 when I came home from work and I took off my white brassiere. For simplicity sake, I will call it bra. I saw a tiny blood stain on the left side of my bra. Supposed it was a black bra I was wearing, then what? Would I have missed it? Thank God, I noticed it at that time! I examined it, and being a Medical Technologist, I knew it was blood, and there was no denying about it. I was shocked, nervous, and confused because I did not know what it was about and where it came from.

I examined my left breast. There was no sign of blood on it, only on my bra. I detected no lumps either, which I thought was a good thing. I still continued to inspect my left breast. Nothing.

Later, I saw that the blood was coming from my nipple. Oh, my gosh! Why is there blood coming out of my nipple?

I quickly told my husband, Roll, there is blood coming from my left nipple.

He was concerned