Coping with My Spouse’s Breast Cancer Diagnosis
The day my wife was told she had breast cancer was absolutely terrifying. The most difficult part was waiting to learn just how far her cancer had spread. Thankfully, her cancer was noticed while in the early stages. She did not have cancer in any of her lymph nodes and the tumor was fairly small. Yet she went through three attempts at a lumpectomy. On all three occasions the margins came back positive . Subsequent to the third effort her surgeon recommended a mastectomy a more significant surgery and breast reconstruction. Plus then 5 years of hormonal therapy. In many ways she was lucky. Hers was not metastatic breast cancer. She did not need chemotherapy as her cancer responds better to hormone therapy instead of chemotherapy. My wife doing wonderfully now. This is an experience, however, that I would not wish on anyone else. I am not able to consider what families must go through in cases where the diagnosis is stage 4 breast cancer. My heart goes out to anyone touched by this disease.