First, I need to say thank you to my husband and best friend, Conrad, for letting me borrow his Harley t-shirt for this photo!

Now being serious.
It was a week before  my 40th birthday when I found a lump under my left breast.  It just appeared overnight-for real.  I found it in the shower in the morning.  Turns out it was stage IIIB. 

My best girlfriend, Cheri went with me for my first of many doctor appts.  She held me together along with my husband, son and father and the rest of my family and friends.  Three months later the docs finally told me it was cancer.  I said that I already knew that, now what are we gonna do about it?  I chose to have a mastectomy.  I had to have pre-surgery chemo to stop it from spreading.  When I started losing my hair, Cheri gave me lots of scarves and hats.  I did not want to wear a wig.  My neighbor, Flo told me that I had the nicest looking bald head with no lumps or bumps she had ever seen.  I was thinking that she was just being nice to me.  She liked to sit with me on my porch with me and rub my head!  My husband was great when it came time to shave my head.  He shaved his first.  It was a very emotional time for us.

 

After chemo, I had my surgery.  My game plan was to get that *&#@!** cancer out of me.  Just take it off!  Then came more chemo and then 6 weeks of radiation followed by recon surgery.  During all this, I was diagnosed with an "almost aneurysm", which actually turned out to be an extra blood vessel growing in my brain!  Don't even ask!  And then 2 weeks after my tram recon surgery, I had a pulmonary embolism that burst in my right lung and put me out of commission for about 4 weeks. 

 

But, I am alive today, and moving on while dealing with 2 teenage boys, 15 and 19, who I will borrow out to anyone at anytime who wants them!   Just call me.

 

Being forced into early menopause and gaining weight is all part of this package deal, but I do have to say I have met many brave, fabulous women and made a lot of new friends.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention about chemo brain!

I joined Gilda's Club Chicago to get support and help other women like myself. The staff there is great. That is where I met my terrific friend, Tess, who is  wild and crazy like me.  She is very special to me.  Having a close BC friend makes living thru this much easier.  We hold each other up on our bad days.  We will be bosom buddies for life.

Support means a lot of different things to me.  There are kind words of support, offers of support, visits and gifts from friends.  The best support I have received is from my BBF friends and also my FPP sisters.  Their words of encouragement and knowledge and knowing when to keep quiet or when to say the right thing is what I hope to pass on to other women who hear those 4 very scary words, "you have breast cancer".  Your life will have a lot of ups and downs,  and unfamiliar roads, but you are strong and I hope that you will come out of this with a zest for life that you never even knew you had.  Breast Cancer is not always a bad thing.

My friends call me a "nurturer".  I  enjoy helping everyone and giving back to all the people who helped me when I was first diagnosed.  Usually I leap before I look when I volunteer, and my husband (who has helped my thru this ordeal with love and strength) says I take on too much.  I need to keep busy or else I will sit at home and think about this ugly disease and get more depressed.

 

Kudos go out to all my docs!  Dr. Jaime Von Roenn, my oncologist,  Jennifer, my chemo nurse, Dr. Seema Khan, my breast surgeon and Dr. Julius Few, my recon doc.  With out them, I don't know where I would be today.  All have a special place in my heart!  They are all terrific, caring individuals, along with the staff at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.  Dr. Few, I made it!!!  You can live vicarously thru me on this ride!  Next year I may be an Aussie girl!

 

Reaching out and helping other women is what makes me "me"!  I am very excited to participate in this awesome ride.  Scared to be doing something so adventurous.  I don't even like to go on the rides at the amusement parks anymore.  I was able to beat cancer, and now look foward to tackling this journey.  Who knows, maybe next year I will go down under and actually ride a bike.  Yes, babe, don't worry, I CAN DO IT!!!
 

Hugs,

Lori Trier