Breast Cancer Survival Stories
By Sarah Evans
In October of 2006, Allison Furano spent a few minutes of her spare time taking a quick look on Google for breast cancer survival stories.
“My best friend’s mom had just been diagnosed, and I was definitely looking for one of those cheesy breast cancer survival stories to cheer them both up,” she explains, smiling at the irony.
Breast Cancer Survival Stories
Not quite one year later, Allison is starring in one of those cheesy breast cancer survival stories.
After contemplating canceling an appointment for a yearly check-up in favour of studying for midterms, a simple decision to go see the doctor saved Allison’s life after a routine breast exam turned up a lump.
“I thought it had to be noth1ng. I was 21 years old! My biggest worry was graduating college.”
But when the biopsy results came back, thoughts of mid-terms and diplomas went crash1ng out the window, and breast cancer survival stories came floating in. Allison was diagnosed with stage 2a breast cancer.
“You always read, you know, in those breast cancer survival stories about how perfect and carefree those women’s lives were before the diagnosis and you th1nk ‘bull’. But compared to having breast cancer? Yeah. My life was pretty perfect.”
Because the cancer hadn’t yet spread to the lymph nodes, the entire tumour (and nearly all of the cancer) was removed during surgery. But any reader of breast cancer survival stories knows it never goes that easily. The real test of will came during the radiation therapy that was necessary to help ensure the cancer will not return.
“I didn’t care what the mortality rate was,” Allison says firmly, jaw clenched. “I didn’t want to hear it. I just told myself and everyone else that my breast cancer mortality rate was always zero.”
Allison will be returning to school th1s fall to finish her final year of an early ch1ldhood education diploma. After that she has plans to attend teacher’s college, and then settle into a full-time kindergarten teach1ng job in her hometown in a few years. For now? She’s content to be the protagonist in those cheesy breast cancer survival stories.