I am a two-time breast cancer survivor. I felt a lump in May of 2001 and after several visits to doctors and even a false negative mammogram, I was finally diagnosed with breast cancer on Sept. 10, 2001.
I thought I was prepared for the diagnosis and the aftermath, but the thoughts that were swirling around my head were so numerous that I couldn’t keep up. Meeting with the doctor before my lumpectomy, I couldn’t breathe and the tears that were all I could feel. I am so thankful for my husband, Erland, who asked all the right questions and was always there for me with a hand to hold.
Anne at the Delta Pink Challenge Tour honoring Delta employees
I had a lumpectomy, and three nodes were removed. I went through six rounds of chemo followed by 33 rounds of radiation treatments. I was placed on taxmoxifen for 5 years. Our baby girl, Isabella Rose Hawkins, arrived in 2003. What a wonderful light into our lives. She became our focus and priority.
At my 5 year mark I was having a physical exam by my surgeon. She was talking to me about moving my exams from 6 months to 1 year. I was not due a mammogram since I had just gotten one done in March of 2006. I asked her to use the ultrasound on me as she had in the past and that’s when they found my second round with breast cancer. My nightmare was beginning again. A double mastectomy and three more surgeries later, I am cancer free in 2010. I caught the cancer so early, my doctor says I saved my own life twice.
When I was asked to help another woman in my doctor’s office who had just been diagnosed, I decided to create a support group in Douglasville, GA. Out of that anger and desperate need to never have another woman feel so lost and out of control, Bosom Buddies was born. Through this group I have formed lasting friendships and an outpouring of support.
Delta was a great contributor to the success of my outcome from cancer. I had so much support and love from my delta family that allowed me to heal. Delta takes care of its people and my managers and co-workers at that time gave of themselves to help me heal. I am eternally grateful to Delta.
Had I not had cancer I wouldn’t have an imprint on my heart to help others and feel their pain. Cancer takes away but cancer gives back as well. Always look for the blessings, and pay it forward.
Anne H.
Delta Employee & breast cancer survivor
