“Be kind to others. You never know what they’re going through.” This is how Diana Sweet signs her email messages, and she knows what she’s talking about. For the past 10 months, Diana’s been battling breast cancer.

You might be familiar with Diana’s fight with cancer—she’s been blogging about it on our website. It has affected her daily life with husband Jerry and daughter McKenzie, but she’s not afraid to talk about it. This is her story, including some entries from her blog (in italics).

February 17, 2009: I just had [my annual exam] done in October and the doctor didn’t find anything. So between then and now, I have no idea how long it [the tumor] has been there…

Diana didn’t consider breast cancer to be a possibility. But shortly after turning 31, she found a lump when she bumped her breast. “It felt like a huge lump, golfball-size,” said Diana. She hadn’t performed a breast self-exam since her annual exam four months earlier. “I will admit that I have never been great about doing self exams.”

“Once I found the lump,” said Diana, “I was like ‘Oh no, what if it’s cancer?’” Though Diana’s grandmother and great aunt had battled breast cancer, Diana had not tested positive for the breast cancer gene.

Most inherited breast cancer can be linked to one of the two genes identified as the breast cancer genes: BRCA1 and BRCA2, which function to keep breast cells growing normally. However, according to the website BreastCancer.org, most women who are diagnosed with breast cancer don’t have a family history of the disease.

March 2, 2009: Today is my daughter’s first birthday and the day of my biopsy.
March 3, 2009: My doctor’s nurse called me and told me I need to come in, can I make it that afternoon by 1:30… I was at the doctor’s office, my daughter was getting her one-year shots.

Diana’s diagnosis came on the day after her daughter McKenzie’s first birthday. “When I found out, I called my mom on my way home,” said Diana. “I started crying and said, ‘It’s cancer.’ She just got really quiet. I said ‘Are you okay?’ and she said, ‘Well, I’m probably about the same as you are right now.’

“I think other people were more worried about me than I was,” said Diana. “Most of the time I was okay. I didn’t know how else to deal with it. What has been so surprising to me was that I didn’t feel sick or anything. I mean, really, the whole time, other than the side effects from the medication, I haven’t felt sick. It still seems in my mind like somebody’s playing a joke on me. You can feel completely fine.”

March 31, 2009: Jerry and McKenzie brought me home from the hospital today around 1pm. Dr. Carter said the surgery yesterday went very well. She took a lymph node from under my arm that tested positive for cancer, so she went in and removed a total of six lymph nodes.

Diana found out that her cancer was triggered by estrogen. “My positive lymph nodes were sent to all kinds of specialists and pathologists because they were having trouble determining if the cancer was lymphoma. She [Dr. Carter] said they had never seen anything like it.”

The diagnosis was an estrogen-sensitive, poorly-differentiated carcinoma. The tumor “was really jagged and it was hard to tell what kind of cancer it was.” A poorly-differentiated cancer like this is classified as a grade three, fast-growing cancer. Diana’s doctor recommended a treatment course that would include chemotherapy treatments and radiation. In anticipation of losing her hair during chemotherapy, Diana went wig shopping with friends.

April 10, 2009: So I went wig shopping today. I went to a shop called Accenté in South OKC. The owner is a breast cancer survivor. That is why I wanted to go there. I cried before I even got out of the car and then cried again when I got inside the store. “Sometimes I make jokes about it—‘Oh, I’m going to lose my hair, I’ll be as bald as Jerry!’”

In retrospect, this was a part of the experience that she had feared the most. “I thought the worst part would be losing my hair,” said Diana. “I guess I’ve just gotten used to it. I’ve worn my wig about five times. The bangs get in my face and I’m always adjusting it. It’s cute, people can’t tell it’s a wig. Looking at me with my wig on, you wouldn’t know that I have cancer.”

April 14, 2009: I will be getting chemo once every two weeks for eight treatments. So it’ll take about four months to go through that.
April 28, 2009: It’s not like she hurt me with the needle stick, I was just thinking about the whole unknown factor—not knowing what to expect or how my body will react to the chemo, not knowing when my hair will start falling out, not knowing what chemo feels like.

Like blisters in all kinds of weird places! I just felt that the worst part was not being able to take care of McKenzie. My mom stayed with me and took care of her. I would get up, take medicine, go back to sleep.”

Prior to going to chemotherapy, Diana’s doctors prepared her with classes and information to read. “They gave me a big binder just full of pages. I’d open it and look at it, start reading and I was like—‘I just can’t do this right now,’” said Diana. “It was just too much information.” The technical information was initially overwhelming, but Diana found peace reading the stories of others her age who have successfully made it through a fight with breast
cancer.

May 1, 2009: This part of the process is really getting me down. I try to tell myself to keep going, just seven more sessions to go. But I feel overwhelmed and out of control. Sometimes I lie in bed and let the tears fall. I feel so weak in this part of the treatment plan. I feel so helpless. But it’s part of the process to heal my body and help
assure I am here for my family and friends. So the temporary sickness is worth it, right?

“The chemo made me tired, but once they got the anti-nausea figured out, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” said Diana. “I was tired and there were times when I didn’t feel like doing anything, but I was pretty much able to do what I needed. “I knew ahead of time what to expect,” said Diana. “Maybe that’s why it wasn’t so bad; I did so much research, I read everything I could think of reading.” Diana’s neighbor had cancer in 2006, and she proved to be a great support to Diana through her diagnosis and treatment, and she would share stories from her own treatment process. “She said ‘I don’t want to freak you out,’ but I told her I wanted to know what the worst is so if it doesn’t happen I can know it’s not as bad as I thought.”

May 13, 2009: My husband shaved my hair off last night. I pulled my hair back in a ponytail and chopped it off, then he got the clippers and cut it all down to #2 length while I cried and held my head over the trash can. “The medication in the first four chemo treatments made me lose my hair,” said Diana, and she decided to shave it when she began to lose her hair. “McKenzie was sitting in the garage with us when [we] shaved it because I wanted her to see that I am still mommy, even with VERY short hair.” It didn’t take long for McKenzie to get used to her mother’s new look. “She kisses me on the head. She’ll crawl up behind me and kiss me on top of the head.”

May 19, 2009: Sometimes I wonder how in the world I am going to make it through six more rounds of chemo,
hormone therapy and radiation and be a good mommy... today I couldn’t help but just lay in bed and cry. And that makes me feel bad. I want [McKenzie] to know it’s okay to cry, but she looks so confused.

Despite the diagnosis and treatment, Diana maintains her positive attitude and does what any mother or wife does. “I do the same stuff I did before,” said Diana. “As long as I’m not nauseated or throwing up, I just do it. Even if I’m tired, I just work through that.”

Through the month of May and into June, Diana’s chemotherapy made her tired, nauseous and sometimes ill. Still she managed to find the time and energy to spend time with her family, help out at a loved one’s funeral and visit family in Germany.

Her battle with cancer is far from over (as of the end of August, chemotherapy was over, but radiation therapy was still on the horizon), but don’t think Diana counts herself out. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in,” said Diana. “I keep telling myself: I have cancer. I guess since I just feel good most of the time it doesn’t feel like it could be real.”

But Diana has difficult days as well, when her positive attitude is challenged by doubts about whether the cancer is really all gone. “I try to push that stuff aside and not worry about it until the time comes,” said Diana. She keeps her focus on life now instead of thinking of what may or may not come in the future.
“The lady who lives across the street from me is young, in her twenties, a single mom with two kids, one and two years old,” said Diana. “She came over and said ‘I don’t know how you do it.’ I said ‘I don’t know how you do it.’ She said ‘I just do what I have to do.’ And I said ‘Exactly.’ I just do what I have to do.”

Advice from Diana:
If you recently were diagnosed with cancer or fear that you might have cancer, Diana offers some words of
advice:
• Take someone with you to the doctor to ask the questions you might not think of.
• Do your research: many websites provide information and supportive stories from others who have battled
cancer. Research medication options that might be available (that’s how Diana found out about a medication that helped her nausea).
• If you get sick or nauseated after chemotherapy, don’t wait to call your doctor.
• Remember that there are worse things that could happen than losing yourhair!
• Maintain a positive attitude. Nothing can make you feel defeated faster than your own negativity. A positive attitude will help you to be strong.

• Talk to someone; go to a counselor and relieve some of the pressure that you may be feeling.

Resources
• Cancer.gov: the National Cancer Institute
• CaringBridge.org: free, personalized websites created by individuals to provide information about critical illnesses, treatment and recovery
• CancerCare.org: national non-profit providing free, professional support to those affected by cancer