I recently shared with you about a breast cancer fundraiser my FitCamp friend Kimberly Michael Townsend was having to help honor her Aunt Glenda who was diagnosed with this terrible disease last year. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, it is only fitting that I share more about Glenda’s story with you today.
Kim speaks so lovingly of her Aunt Glenda, a 65-year old woman who has remained close to her family over the years, and describes her as a generous person willing to share her time and resources to help others.
“My Aunt Glenda has spent her life giving to her children and her grandchildren, primarily, but she does leave room for the rest of the extended family, too,” Kim said. “She has always taken time out of her life to take my grandparents to the doctor if my mom and her other siblings couldn’t. She made a point to go see them on a daily basis almost. Even after my grandmother’s death almost 2 years ago, she continues to sit with my grandfather in between work and her own family that she takes care of.”
Stating that her Aunt Glenda would “give the shirt off her back if her family needed it,” Kim said this big-hearted special woman in her life was hit hard with the news she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. She said “the whole family was devasted.” What started a merely a pain in her breast over several weeks led Glenda to make an appointment with her doctor. After undergoing a series of tests, including a mammogram, MRI, and other diagnostic work, the doctors found the inevitable–a large mass in the breast which was the source of Glenda’s pain. As with all mysterious lumps and masses, the doctors did a biopsy of it to see if they needed to be concerned about it. The result was “the worst news anyone could hear,” as Kim described it.
The doctors recommended that her breast be removed since the mass was so huge and it was indeed cancer. She had the surgery within days and once they actually had the mass out they decided to run some more tests. They found that her breast contained 7 different kinds of cancer cells and they even listed her case in a medical journal since it was something they had never seen before,” Kim explained.
She added, “Personally, that’s not something I really want to be famous for.”
In the weeks that followed, the doctors kept a watchful eye on Glenda’s cancer to monitor if it had spread. They were pleased to see that all of her tests came back negative for cancer and she was given a virtual clean bill of health. Because they were able to detect the breast cancer early enough, Glenda was able to avoid having to go through painful and sometimes deadly chemotherapy treatments.
“This was a blessing and a surprise to all of us,” Kim remarked.
There was some concern by the doctors about a “spot” on Glenda’s ovary since the primary cancer she had usually heads in that direction or the liver when it metastasizes. But that turned out to be nothing in the end–a welcome respite from this devastatingly sudden news that she had breast cancer. It’s been a little more than a year now since her diagnosis and Glenda’s doctors are still checking in on her to make sure the cancer stays away. Unfortunately, it appears the cancer may be coming back again.
In July, Glenda had another MRI done and the doctors found two very small “spots” on her lungs. The doctors said they will wait to see if these grow since they weren’t large enough at the time to deal with. Last month she went back to the doctor for a check-up and one of the “spots” had indeed grown large enough that the doctors ordered another biopsy. Unfortunately, the doctor didn’t get enough of it to make a determining factor about what it is. At this point, Kim doesn’t know if her Aunt Glenda’s cancer has returned moving from her breast to her lungs, but she is holding out “hope for the best” that everything is going to work out.
“Cancer is just bad news altogether,” Kim said, articulating the frustration that cancer victims and their families go through.
Kim will be participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day which benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund in November in honor of her Aunt Glenda in November.
