Tuesday, September 26, 2017

Losing My Mom to IBC

It's nearly October, and for many of us, that means seeing Breast Cancer Awareness articles, donation requests, news stories, fundraisers, and etc at every turn. In sync with breast cancer awareness month, I just want to share a topic that mattered to someone who mattered a lot to me.



Breast Cancer is a demon that plagues the lives of people we love everyday. My mom was one of those people who . She was an amazing woman with a fiery spirit. She was stubborn and outspoken too(probably where I get it from). She fought harder than anyone I have ever seen, and I am so proud of her. 

In 2013, she was diagnosed with stage 3 inflammatory breast cancer. Please look into this type of cancer. It is rare, it is fast growing, and it is very aggressive. 

Image result for inflammatory breast cancer
Image Credit to The IBC Network Foundation
After 6 highly intense rounds of chemotherapy, a mastectomy, and 33 radiation treatments... my mom was finally confirmed to be "cancer free" in 2014. She had sacrificed a lot to fight the fight. She lost her hair, her hearing in one ear, and eventually the medications destroyed the strength in her teeth. She was forced to have them pulled and get false teeth. But she was alive. 

We were blessed. 

Anyone who has been reading my blog or follows me on social media knows that I recently lost my mother to this cancer. There was a relapse, only this time because of the type of cancer she had, it spread throughout her body and into her major organs before anyone knew what was happening to her.

The thing that people don't understand about the importance of awareness is, the doctors don't know much about cancers like this. Nothing is guaranteed. Learning all we can about this is important because, the sooner it's spotted, the more time a doctor has to react and learn how to give you your best chance. 

My mom wanted people to learn about this cancer and to share what they know with others. She didn't want people to go thru what she went through. So this has become very important to me.

Please take a moment to study up on this cancer and be informed that just because it isn't noticed on a mammogram, doesn't mean it isn't there. Inflammatory breast cancer is a rare aggressive cancer, but it is not so rare that it can't affect you.

 Breast Cancer Awareness Gifts


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