Mami Mondays: She Fights Like a Girl

Today is National Breast Cancer Awareness Day. We have seen the seas of pink. The strides taken, the solidarity shown.

Today, I want to share a story with you. From the daughter of a breast cancer survivor. Because the ribbons and the pink are all well and good but I want us to put a face to the name. A personal story to the cause. Stride on, sistahs!

Breast cancer has consumed my life.

Breast cancer has been impacting my life since I was 12. I'm now 33 and it still continues to be a pain in the tit. Yeah I said it. So this year I decided to put up a fact each day about Breast Cancer on my FB page. My hope is that people would take the information and help with finding a cure or take a look at their own health but also to cope with the daily pain of this illness.

I know for me, I've avoiding dealing with my early screening. Why you ask? My mom was 38 when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer. It was such a speedy process back then. She was diagnosed and then had a partial mastectomy within a few months. Once she recovered from surgery, she had a chemotherapy.

Now let's stop for a moment. I was 12 when this all happened. To say I grew up quickly is an understatement. I took over all the duties in the house. I learned to cook, clean and grocery shop like a pro. As my mother's only daughter, I took on the responsibility without hesitation. My mom has always been there for me so it was my time to watch after her.

The older I became, the push was put on me to have a mammogram at 28. I was scared out of my mind. So I pushed it off and pushed it off until I was 30. When I finally had it done I was literally in tears because I had to have the pictures done 3 times. I called my mom like "what the hell is going on?". She kindly and sweetly told me its just a precaution. If they feel they see something, they do it again.

Side note: never have a mammogram at the end of breast feeding, it will definitely impact the results. But thank goodness I did it because I was on the road to having a baseline and the results came back negative.

Now let's fast forward to 2013. This year should have been filled with joy for the fact that my Moore Clan was welcoming our fourth child. Yes, 4 children! God has blessed us with the ability to bring life into this world to nurture. But my feeling of joy was put on the back burner because breast cancer decided to pop back up again in my mother.

It's been exactly 20 years since she fought like a girl and now had to do it all over again. However, this time around, my brother and I were old enough to know exactly what was going on and knew to ask tons of questions. Every appointment my mom had, one of us was there with her.

There was no opportunity for us not to know how things were going to play out for my mom. The process was in hyperdrive with surgery within a month of diagnosis. We are grateful everything moved so quickly because it was determined the tumor was a stage 3 mass. Anyone that has encountered cancer knows stage 3 is never good.

At this point my mom has finished her big chemo treatments and is on the road to recovery with maintenance chemo. As for me, I've had my princess and we are all trying to settle into a crazy world of normalcy.

~~~

Life goes on, doesn't it? I've watched Tia go through some of this over the last couple of years. Her mom fights like a girl and we are all rooting for her! I think the message is: get checked, talk to your loved ones into getting checked. Stay alert and take care of yourself. Thank you Tia for writing this. I think I asked you for this like a month after you had your princess and you delivered between breastfeedings and naps. Thank you for taking the time.

About Tia: 

Tia Moore, a wife and mother of 4 princesses ranging in age from 9 years old to 7 weeks old. She shares what little time she has outside the home as a licensed insurance agent and cheerleading coach. 

She is a lover of cheerleading which she shares with her mother and daughters. If you want to find her, you can see her at the gym or in the yard perfecting her routines.