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age 55
Rita Shapiro
breast cancer
stage four

Three years ago I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  It was a stage two estrogen positive and I had a lumpectomy.  Then I had a port put in - on the advice of women in a support group.  I did have a great support group at MD Anderson in Orlando.   As with Janice, the diagnosis is the worst time.   After a while the normalcy of life comes back and you do the day by day things and keep going. I have grand children and when I am with them I have no pain or weakness, only happiness.  During these three years I have felt the fear, I have worried.  My sister has metastatic breast cancer which was in her lungs and now is in her liver.  She has been on chemotherapy for over two years.  She has had so much pain and loss of ability to do things.  It is hard to talk to her.   Then this year, when I went to the doctor, I told him my hip hurt.  I had told the doctor the year before but he said it was probably just some arthritis.   This doctor did a bone scan and I didn't pass. I had all the tests done and a biopsy said "Epithelial tissue consistent with Breast Cancer. It was devastating! It was February 14, 2001.  Happy Valentines Day.   Well, I thought I have to make this be an OK thing.  There must be more lessons to be learned. My doctor was pretty scary.  He sent me to an orthopedic surgeon to see if I would need surgery on my hip because the cancer was large 4 cm by 3cm and might break the bone.   A wonderful radiation oncologist said "let's do radition and maybe we can get a remission". Yeah! great news.  So I had radiation - this is the second time and it really is a good time for me.  The routine, I listen to inspirational music, I get a great visualization.  The first time it was a rainbow and this time white angels going down to remove the cancer from my hip.  This is really a calm time for me.  I went there and then went to work everyday.  I also started Reiki healing each week, I also get a massage each weekend I teach Yoga and go to several classes a week.   I swim a few times a week. I swam through all my treatments.  It is a great way to feel you are alive. I find a pool wherever I go.  There is peace in the pool.   This reoccurrence was very hard at first.  I was in the same state of shock and pain as the first time but it got over very quickly.  The treatment was so much easier - no surgery, no chemotherapy this time.   So that made it easier to face.  I checked with my gynecologist and found that my ovary - I only have one left--is producing lots of estrogen even though I had been taking Tamoxifen and now Femara which are supposed to remove estrogen.  This was my idea to check this out. So I will have the ovary removed next week.   My husband and I are convinced that when you first get cancer doctors seem to have lots of things to do and lots of studies.   When you are in a terminal condition (like my sister) there is lots of studies and things to try.  But when you have a metastatic breast cancer than is not life threatening at the moment, they have very little to offer by way of knowledge, support, studies, treatments.   My diet was always good. I have been a vegetarian for 25 years.  However, for the last year or so, I went back to enjoying wine and since my first cancer, I became a dessert and ice cream fanatic.   Well, I now longer drink wine and am working on cutting out sugar.   But I do believe that am doing some very important things to increase my immune system's ability to recognize and overcome cancer cells.   I am eating at least 2 tablespoons of flax seed a day.  It must be put in a coffee grinder to break the shells so we can digest them.   I try to eat fresh, uncooked, garlic a couple of times a week - I will work my way up on that slowly.  I am going to acupuncture to increase my immune system's health.  I continue the Reiki, Massage, Meditation, Yoga and swimming, walking, biking.  I enjoy so many things but mostly the life I live with my husband, Jeff.  We live in a beautiful wooded area, Gainesville, Fla.  I have two beautiful children and two grandchildren.   We do plan to have a few more vacations that Jeff would have taken prior to this news. Mostly, I believe that I am in remission.  I am less fearful of leaving remission than I was for the first three years after the first occurrence.   I feel very happy and focused.  I do take things a lot easier at work. I certainly don't worry much about work, although I always do a good job.  I value my friends, and each one offers some special grace that almost always comes at the special time I need it. The American Cancer Society has done us a great service by bringing cancer out of the closet.  The first time I was embarrassed for folks to know, but this time I just didn't have the emotional energy to talk to anyone about it until I reached a good place myself. Now, I can talk about it but not at first.   I didn't even tell my family this time (they live far away).  I just handled it with a lot of help from so many friends and neighbors - each day someone did something nice.  If, I can help any other woman with my story or can talk to someone who would like.  I feel very positive about where I am in life at this moment- subject to change of course.

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