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Jennifer Berbakos
It was a Friday afternoon, mid-July 2008, when life as I had known it changed in an instant. I was 36 years old and married to my husband of almost ten years. Our son George was 6, and I was 34 weeks pregnant with our second child, Julia, who was born August 7, 2008. Throughout my pregnancy, I had felt a lump in my right breast, but we just thought it was due to my pregnancy. After asking my OB/GYN repeatedly about this lump, I was finally sent for a sonogram to relieve my mind. So, I am sitting at Advanced Radiology, thinking I am only going to be about an hour. Well, two sonograms, a mammogram, 8 biopsies of my right breast, and four hours later, it was pretty apparent that we were dealing with something more than just a lump from my pregnancy. Monday morning I was diagnosed with stage II breast cancer.
Once I was diagnosed, obviously we went through a ton of tests and doctor’s appointments. I ended up having my daughter, Julia, a month and 1 day early. While I was in the hospital recovering from my c-section, doctors implanted my port. Two weeks after I returned home from having our second beautiful child, I began my treatment. This consisted of 6 treatments, one every 3 weeks. I then had two lumpectomy surgeries and 37 radiation treatments. By the end of April, I was finished with my treatment and back to work.
Like many other survivors, I look at breast cancer as a very challenging bump in the road. Because of the unwavering and exceptional support of my husband, mother, father and the rest of my family, I have made it through this year gracefully and stronger than I was. I am very pleased to say I have had my first mammogram since the completion of my treatment and so far, so good. No signs of calcification. Yahoo! My son is now in first grade, and Julia is walking and baby talking. Life is good!
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