In her story, Genoa also highlights many important quality-of-life issues, like dealing with the hair loss , working through treatment, and being a patient self-advocate. This interview has been edited for clarity.
This is not medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare provider for treatment decisions. Cancer is no longer the death sentence I used to think it was growing up or what I feared it might be. I had been feeding it. Basically, I had had an estrogen-patch that I attached to my butt every 2 weeks to help me through menopause. All that had happened was I had accelerated [it]. Through medical intervention trying to help me manage my menopausal symptoms and re-balance my hormones, I had accelerated something in my breast that was cancerous.
The best description I ever had was from a nurse practitioner [who] drew me a diagram on the sheet that they cover the examination bed with. That made the most sense to me. I had a stepson who had made it to university, and I was working in my career. I think as women we know that nausea is there for a reason.
If I felt nauseous, that meant something was really wrong. As luck would have it β or maybe the universe was taking care of me β I had hit my deductible on my annual health insurance. I thought that was a fantastic idea. I also let her know I felt nauseated. I just felt icky, so I scheduled my mammogram.
It was incredible. I actually managed to have my MRI scheduled on the same day. I do think there was something very special going on because by the time I got to my mammogram in the afternoon, the results of my MRI had already gone through. They did a very different mammogram because they knew exactly where to go.
