When I went to get a mammogram, I wasn’t worried.
Afterall, I’m only 30 years old and in good health.
And when they wanted to do another mammogram because my breasts were dense, I still wasn’t worried. But, when they called back again to do an ultrasound, I started to get a little concerned.
And then when my Nurse Practitioner Stephanie, called me the next day and told me to come into the office right away, I was terrified.
Steph, who has been a friend of mine for years, sat me down and said, “Annabelle this doesn’t look good. It looks like CANCER. You need to get a biopsy done right away. You have kids.”
I was in complete shock. All I could think about was my husband Ryan and our four beautiful daughters, Lilliânna (9), Dahlia (7), Azaléa (5) and Viola (3) and if I would get the chance to see them grow up.
After calling everyone who performs biopsies in our area, the earliest Steph could get a biopsy for me was at the regional cancer center four weeks away.
That was exactly thirty-one days for Ryan and me to agonize over if I had cancer or not. If it had spread? What stage it was? What would the next steps be? Would I be okay? Would I survive? Did I have the BRAC gene and had I passed it on to my daughters unknowingly? And so many other horrible worries, thoughts and fears.
I couldn’t wait four weeks to find out if I had cancer. There had to be another option.
Annabelle is living proof that
early screening saves lives.
Steph called me and asked if we’d be willing to go to the states to get a biopsy. We said yes. We would have gone anywhere to get an answer. But Steph found us a clinic in Toronto that would do the biopsy the following week. And right away they told us the initial results looked like cancer.
Two weeks later I was officially diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer, triple neg aggressive. I began 12 rounds of weekly chemo immediately. Followed by four rounds of the dreaded “red devil” chemo that everyone hates because it’s known to have horrible side effects.
Chemo is brutal and cancer is awful. There’s just no way around it. But for me waiting for tests and results was the worst part. I was crying all the time, I had stomach issues, I was making myself sick with the stress. But once I knew what I was dealing with and we had a plan, I felt a lot better.
And that’s why I’m sharing my story.
Right now, people in our community – our mothers, sisters, daughters, granddaughters and friends we know and love – don’t have a mammogram program at our hospital.
The people that we care about have to go to other hospitals and clinics, often travelling outside of the region, and WAIT for mammograms and biopsies – lifesaving tests that could change lives. But you can help change that today.
As business owners in the community and long-time donors to the hospital ourselves, my husband Ryan and I are asking you to join with us today by investing in GBGH with a special gift to bring this life-saving technology to our hospital as soon as possible.
With your support, together we can help GBGH finish that last critical fundraising phase to bring life-saving screening and
biopsies to countless people every year, right here at home.
Because right here at home is really critical.
As a young mom with four kids under nine, I wasn’t thinking of my health. It had been three years since I went to the doctor. I went because I wanted to make sure I was healthy for my kids and my Nurse Practitioner Steph convinced me to get screened because my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 39.
Chemo is brutal but I was determined to stay positive! Because I got screened, my cancer was caught early. And since it’s a very aggressive form of cancer, if it wasn’t caught when it was, it could have grown really quickly.
Early screening gave me the best possible chance to win my cancer battle.
And that’s where I come back to the right here at home part. A lot of people don’t get regular mammogram screenings because they don’t have access to reliable transportation, they don’t want to spend hours driving to other communities, they can’t take time off work, or they don’t have someone to take care of their children.
But by having our own program at GBGH we can remove these barriers, eliminate delays and ensure a faster, clearer and more immediate diagnosis and care for patients.
There have been a lot of tough moments on this journey – which is still ongoing. So many tears, raging fevers and hospital visits. Months of chemo, waiting and stress. Weeks lying in bed, missed birthdays and holidays. And there are still upcoming surgeries and possible treatments.
But there has also been strength, joy, happiness, love and incredible support. Because you have to be positive and the sooner we make this
mammogram program a reality for ourselves, our daughters, sisters and our loved ones, the stronger the health of our community will be.
Thank you for letting me share my story with you, and if you can, please support your community hospital today.
