Breast Cancer Awareness all year long - Learn from one woman's journey

Hello ladies,

Although Breast Cancer Awareness month is over. Please remember that we must continue to keep this serious disease before us. The following is the beginning of a five-part series about Angela Williams' breast cancer journey. I hope this series will encourage and enlighten someone!

Please visit: www.examiner.com/x-22879-Baltimore to read all five parts.


The Angela Williams story - part one of a five-part series

Breast cancer survivor Angela Williams says cancer was the farthest thing from her mind when she found the lump in her left breast, three years ago.

Each woman's journey is different. Angela says she noticed that her menstrual cycle was late around the same time she found her lump. Her doctor quickly explained to her that the two occurrences had nothing to do with one another.

"She (my doctor) sort of laughed, and made me an appointment to come in," explains Angela. Thus began Angela's breast cancer battle.

Following her physical exam where her doctor felt her lump, an appointment was made for Angela to get a mammogram, then a sonogram.

Angela says, "I could tell that something wasn't right because several people came into the room to look at the lump and feel it, she said."

"I discovered that it had a lot of fluid. It was pretty large, at that point.

About a week after being examined by an oncologist, Angela went into the doctor's office, by herself, to get test results.

"It (the diagnosis) really wowed me because cancer did not happen in my family," she says. "I knew no one in my immediate family that had, had cancer."

However, diabetes was prevalent in Angela's family, with her mother and her mother's sisters, all having diabetes.

"My sisters and I would always say that we didn't want that (diabetes). So, when cancer hit me, I think I was kind of numb to the fact that I had it," she admitted.

Angela immediately went into research mode, going online and searching for any and all information she could find on how to treat and survive breast cancer.

In addition, says Angela, "I had great doctors that informed me that ‘it's not a death sentence, and you don't have to make up your mind right away on the procedure that you want.' "

Having a good support system is something that is the key for most breast cancer survivors.

"I started telling people - my family first," says Angela.

"My husband was very, very supportive, saying, ‘we are going to beat this, and ‘you stay positive," he kept telling me. So that really helped me throughout all of my treatment."

In part two of One Woman's Journey, Angela decides what treatment will be best for her, and experiences a multitude of emotions.

To find a breast cancer support group, organization or medical facility in the Baltimore area, read about the Red Devils, the Harbor View Cancer Center, and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.

For breast support bras, visit Ardyss International's site.