Dear Editor:
Today I’m sitting in the oncologist office in Dothan. I am waiting to schedule my chemotherapy appointments which will last approximately six months. Hopefully the chemotherapy treatments will be the last thing I have to do to get rid of the cancer in my body. My reason for writing this letter is to say thank you for the article pertaining to breast cancer awareness that ran in your paper in October, 2007.
I have had mammograms for the last five years, but never made a practice of doing self -exams regularly. When I picked up your paper on October 18, 2007 and read the article about breast cancer, I decided to do a self-exam and discovered a lump in my breast. I called my doctor the next day and was scheduled for a diagnostic mammogram the following Thursday. On that Thursday, after the mammogram, I had a sonogram and biopsy. My family doctor’s nurse called me the following Monday and advised me the lump was a non-invasive cancer. On finding this out I requested a surgeon at the University of Alabama Birmingham to perform the surgery. I had been given the surgeon’s name by a friend back in February and my friend had advised me the surgeon was one of the best breast cancer surgeons in the United States. Back in February God had prepared me for what would happen in October. After further testing at UAB they discovered three more malignant tumors measuring over two centimeters each; three in the left breast and one in the right breast. On December 4, 2007 I had surgery at UAB.
If I had not performed the self-exam my chances of survival would have been considerably less. The last mammogram I had was, December 6, 2006, 10 months prior to finding the lump in my breast. The report from that mammogram said there were no areas of concern found.
So, please accept my greatest appreciation for possibly saving my life with the article in October, 2007. Also let me stress to all the ladies that may read this, please do your self-exams regularly. It could truly save your life.
Sincerely,
JoAnn Truette
Marianna, Fl.
(Editor’s Note: This letter is an example of what makes working at a newspaper so rewarding!)
Today I’m sitting in the oncologist office in Dothan. I am waiting to schedule my chemotherapy appointments which will last approximately six months. Hopefully the chemotherapy treatments will be the last thing I have to do to get rid of the cancer in my body. My reason for writing this letter is to say thank you for the article pertaining to breast cancer awareness that ran in your paper in October, 2007.
I have had mammograms for the last five years, but never made a practice of doing self -exams regularly. When I picked up your paper on October 18, 2007 and read the article about breast cancer, I decided to do a self-exam and discovered a lump in my breast. I called my doctor the next day and was scheduled for a diagnostic mammogram the following Thursday. On that Thursday, after the mammogram, I had a sonogram and biopsy. My family doctor’s nurse called me the following Monday and advised me the lump was a non-invasive cancer. On finding this out I requested a surgeon at the University of Alabama Birmingham to perform the surgery. I had been given the surgeon’s name by a friend back in February and my friend had advised me the surgeon was one of the best breast cancer surgeons in the United States. Back in February God had prepared me for what would happen in October. After further testing at UAB they discovered three more malignant tumors measuring over two centimeters each; three in the left breast and one in the right breast. On December 4, 2007 I had surgery at UAB.
If I had not performed the self-exam my chances of survival would have been considerably less. The last mammogram I had was, December 6, 2006, 10 months prior to finding the lump in my breast. The report from that mammogram said there were no areas of concern found.
So, please accept my greatest appreciation for possibly saving my life with the article in October, 2007. Also let me stress to all the ladies that may read this, please do your self-exams regularly. It could truly save your life.
Sincerely,
JoAnn Truette
Marianna, Fl.
(Editor’s Note: This letter is an example of what makes working at a newspaper so rewarding!)
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