Hello! My name is Lucinda West, and I am a two-time breast cancer survivor. I remember the moment on 12/12/12 when my doctor uttered “you have breast cancer” like it was yesterday–words one does not easily forget. From there I started my breast cancer journey, which lasted almost two years from diagnosis to completion of reconstruction. I was deemed “cancer free” by my doctors in 2013, however that doesn’t guarantee safety from this awful disease. I was diagnosed with Stage IV Metastatic Breast Cancer in December, 2016, meaning there is “treatment” but no “cure,” at least until they find one. Thankfully, the treatment is working; I continue to work and live each day to the fullest.
My story is sprinkled throughout the book The Breast Cancer Journey, so I won’t repeat it here, however the book was published before my latest diagnosis. I will continue my story in a blog on this website. I think it is important to know that lots of women are living with metastatic breast cancer who look like the picture of health. Looks can be deceiving! I have had loads of support, prayers, and I could not imagine what life would have been like without my friends and family by my side. I could not imagine going through this journey without my spiritual faith.
About a year after my initial diagnosis I was attending a support group lead by my radiation oncologist, Dr. Pamela Schlembach. She held an open mic night, and invited women to share their story. For the first time I shared my story publicly with this group, and it provided such a rush of release and other emotions very difficult to describe. As we were walking out of the group that night, I said I thought it would be great if we could share these stories in a book, so more women could feel the same sense of hope and encouragement we had experienced that night.
This is how The Breast Cancer Journey was born. From that night we started gathering stories, editing stories, and pulling them together into a book, which was eventually published in April of 2016. We agreed to donate the net proceeds to cancer research. Research is the only way we will find a cure for this horrible disease.
Our biographies are detailed in the book. You can read these in the free preview on the publisher’s website at WestBow.Com.