Mai-Lynn’s Story

Site created on April 10, 2019

A few weeks ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. At the age of 45 I thought this couldn’t be real but it was. 80-90% of lumps discovered in women’s breast are just lumps. I thought I wouldn’t fall in the 10-20% and was blindsided when they said you have breast cancer. OMG what was I going to do? I’m a single mother of two wonderful young ladies; how was I going to explain this to them without losing my sh*t in front of them? How can I answer their questions when I have so many myself? I was left with just tell them. So I had dinner with my sister and afterwards we all sat in the living room and we explained what we knew to the kids. Since my sister just went through this last year, she was able to answer many of their questions. I am so grateful for that. 

I had my port put in the following week and was already to start Chemo but was still waiting on a second opinion. Well that came on a Friday and chemo was scheduled to start on Monday. To my surprise the diagnosis was different. I still had breast cancer but the treatment plan was different. WHAT??? I had to cancel my first Chemo appointment until I got my third opinion. As I met with the third oncologist, he was very straight forward. He said both opinions where correct but it came down to what I wanted. He asked me what I wanted; to save as much of my own breast tissue as possible. It was clear from there which treatment route I would take. 

I have my first round of chemo to go through but I decided at the beginning of my journey that I would not let myself be a victim of my circumstance but to be a women warrior. I know I will have good days and hard days but I will persevere through this. Each day is a new day with renewed hope. I’m not going through this alone as I have my village, family, and friends by my side. 

Newest Update

June 14, 2019

Journal entry by Mai-Lynn Williams —

Well I’ve completed my third round of chemo and have requested a week break before my fourth round. This has gotten much harder than expected. My nausea was so bad the day after chemo that my teeth clenched and I was unable to eat. The doctors gave me a steroid to help boost the anti nausea meds and a  sedative to help relax my teeth clenching reflex. This time my nausea lasted nine days. This just sucks. I have taken a leave from work since I can’t give the time and attention needed there. Right now my world has changed so much that my head is in a swirl. Hopefully I will feel ok soon. 
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