I was born in Richfield, raised in Elsinore, and graduated from South Sevier High School. I married Joe Lee in 1992. We have 3 children, ages 17, 14 and 12. I volunteered at Monroe Elementary School for 10 years, and am currently working as a Pre-school Teacher at Richfield Head Start; I have worked there for 4 years.
In January 2007 I found a small lump in my breast, so I went in for a mammogram. My Doctor said my mammogram was clean, but she had me follow up with an ultra sound which was also clean. She suggested I go see a surgeon. The surgeon said I should have the lump removed. Thinking it was no big deal I put my surgery off until May so I could finish up the school year. Within three months the lump had grown to the size of an egg. I had surgery and found out that I had cancer. I had a Pet-scan and it showed that the cancer was also in my bones. The Doctor told me that I had an aggressive non-curable stage 4 cancer.
On June 18, 2007 I started chemo. Within 2 weeks my hair started to fall out, so the first of July I shaved my head. My family was in turmoil. Each night when I would take my kids to bed we would all cry and they would ask me if I was going to die. At this time my kids were ages 14, 11, and 9.
On Oct. 19, 2007 I got the results that my last Pet-scan came back clean, no more cancer. What a relief! The Doctor reminded me that it was not if my cancer would come back, but when it would come back. He said that I would need to continue treatments for the rest of my life. I would need to do a drug called Zometa. It is to harden my bones and make it more difficult for the cancer to come back.
In January 2010 I told the Doctor I was concerned that I had found another lump in my breast. On March 11th the Doctor also noticed a lump, so once again he had me do a Pet-scan. On March 15th the Doctor called me in and told me that my cancer had returned but this time it was not in my bones but in my left breast and lymph nodes, along with lymph nodes on my right side.
On April 9th I checked into the American Fork Hospital and had a full mastectomy. I spent 4 days in the hospital.
On May 6th I once again started a chemo drug called Herceptin, which I will do for the rest of my life, every 4 weeks, or until I have heart damage. I will be starting radiation by the end of the month, 5 days a week for 4-8 weeks.
This has been a very devastating time for my family. My husband and children have had a hard time but have been very supportive.
