Andrea Leopold

The day began with a
routine annual mammogram then off to work for the day to then be
called back 30 minutes later to see if I could come back for an
ultrasound as there was an abnormal finding!




Found myself being
comforted by an RN and Radiologist who were both breast cancer
survivors. Why were they placed in my life at that time? I only
knew that something was not right. I was calm throughout even though
my intuition knew that the tumor found in the ultrasound was not
normal. They both stayed to talk with me for a long while after. I
told them that if this is what was dealt to me, I would move forward
in a direction to fight this as I did with Hodgkin's Disease 30 years
ago. It was a few days later that I received a phone call from
Jackie, Dr. Larry Einhorn's nurse, that it was confirmed as breast
cancer (found out a few days later that it was Stage 1, Triple
Negative). Emotional as it was, I then had to share this with my
family and friends.





To my loved ones,
both family and friends, please promise me that you will go for your
annual mammograms or share the need for this with your loved ones.





As determined of a
person I am, I am not going to give up. This is the last time I will
ever hear I have cancer again! I chose to have a bilateral
mastectomy with reconstruction (just wait – Double D, here I
come!). The tumor is very small with two little sisters on my right
breast. We are not talking chemotherapy, nor radiation. My plans
are to go thru my surgery with a very positive attitude. More will
be told during surgery with more testing. I plan to hear the word
“success” when I wake up after surgery knowing all of my surgeons
with their golden hands did the best job possible. I will deal if I
have to. I am most excited about my team of doctors at IU Health,
Dr. Kathy Miller, breast oncologist, Dr. Linda Han, breast surgeon,
Dr. Brett Hartman, plastic surgeon and Dr. Richard Zellars, Radiation
Oncologist. I feel lucky already.





I do always try to
find the message in any negative events. What I found in this one is
how stress has played an unhealthy role in my life. I have been
given the chance to make a change to de-stress and am determined to
do that.





Goals in my life did
change. I realized the importance of flexibility. I pray that in 6
months, those goals will become reality. Brett, my most fabulous
boyfriend, and I bought a 2 bedroom condo. Something impulsive which
is not our norm. We were going to downsize to a one bedroom, but
after my diagnosis we felt it best to have a 2 bedroom for guests and
to have a place down the road for access to my wonderful doctors. By
the way, we moved two weeks ago and loving every moment of our new
space!




Please keep me in
your prayers. In advance, I would like to thank each and every one
of you for your continued support.




Love,

Andrea