Breast Cancer Awareness Month celebrates survivors, informs people of the dangers of breast cancer and fuels current patients to get better. According to breastcancer.org, one in eight women develop invasive breast cancer in their lifetime. This alarming statistic is heartbreaking for everyone, but it’s even worse when you find out that one of your closest family members has become a statistic.
In 1999, my hero who I see as invincible, strong, and capable of anything became a member of the 12% of women that develop breast cancer. My grandmother, Linda Maker was diagnosed after numerous doctor appointments concerning a breast lump. She found the lump herself and immediately brought up the concern to her doctor. She underwent a mammogram, but surprisingly nothing came up. The doctor prescribed her estrogen (which ended up making the cancer cells grow faster) and a month later the lump was visible through the skin. Realizing his mistake, he sent her to a surgeon who performed a test that revealed terrible news — the cells were cancerous.
I was four years old when my mom tried to explain to me what cancer was. I knew it was bad and that my grandma had a battle ahead of her, but I didn’t understand the logistics like I do now. A year of radiation and chemotherapy left my grandma frail and ill. She was subjected to poisoning her body everyday to get rid of the cancerous cells. She fought through the pain and sickness in hopes that one day she would be whole again. Talking to her now, I ask her the worst part of the years she battled the disease. “Losing hair for two years was miserable,” she says, “not only did I have to deal with having cancer, I had to deal with people knowing I had cancer and seeing me as weak. It was terrible.”
It has never been in my grandma’s nature to depend on others. She has always been an independent woman who took care of herself and everyone around her. For years she had to let other people care of her and I think that’s what pushed her to get better and beat it.
I will always remember the day my grandma announced that she had won the fight. The radiation and chemotherapy had worked — she was cancer free. My grandma’s fight proved how strong she really was and I am proud to say that she is a survivor. In her own way of giving back, she opened up a wig salon that catered to cancer patients undergoing chemo. It was private and eliminated the embarrassment of buying wigs at hair salons. The demand was high and women flocked from all over the county to my grandma’s at-home business. A hairdresser her entire life, my grandma made it a point to help women feel more secure about their hair and to give them options during their treatment.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month reminds us every year that women have to stick together and find a cure. The best advice that a breast cancer survivor can give to women of all ages is to always perform monthly exams on your breasts and to set mammograms as a priority. This month, inform yourself on the risks and symptoms of breast cancer and congratulate a survivor. After all, in the war against themselves — they won.