Jen Wells
Survivor
Well hello beautiful people! It has been a while since I last told my story….so here it goes…. A month before my 40th Birthday I found a lump in my right breast. Simply put, I knew. My husband and son came home later that night and I told him, had him feel, and we embraced knowing there was now a path laid out for us to walk….and that’s exactly what we did. Within two weeks of finding the lump I was mammogram-ed, sonogram-ed, biopsied, BRCA tested, and scheduled for surgery…opting for a bilateral mastectomy. Lymph nodes were taken, tested…3x no less…with some coming back positive. Chemo here I come! And that’s when we told our son, he was just entering junior high. At that age he did not really grasp the severity of the situation, but we did go hat shopping together since he thought wigs were weird! I had chemo for six months that started in June and ended in November. Being a teacher at the time I opted to go to work as I needed that normalcy in my life. After chemo my scans came back clean and I was to be on tamoxifen for 10 years. Through it all my husband was a rock, my son very supportive, my friends solid, and my colleagues extremely gracious. I’m still going strong. Due to long term issues being on tamoxifen I had to have a hysterectomy….but that’s okay cause after 8 1/2 years I’m now off of that, clean, healthy, and STRONG! My initial diagnosis many moons ago scared me as my grandmother died from breast cancer at age 62, my mother as well at age 52. I wasn’t sure I’d survive as the odds were not in my favor and that’s when I decided I was going to break the chain. I took every step possible, taking the most aggressive measures necessary to conquer this despicable disease. I needed to be there for my son, my husband, and prove the cycle stopped with me. And it did. I’m the first cancer survivor in my family. Cancer is beatable, whatever path may be laid out…NEVER give up…there are people who will help you walk that path, guide you, and carry you if need be…but at the end of the day….our continued fight as a community will uncover the cure! Stay STRONG!