Very glad to hear Mary Ann has beat this thing. In this respect , I would like to urge every man over 40 years old to get a PSA blood test for prostate cancer. I did in 1995 and it saved mylife. The old fashioned physical type exams (finger wave) are not reliable.
Jane Dennis emailed me this story months ago and I'm just now getting it up on the message board:
Monroe County Sun March 1, 2007 HG Resident Reynolds is Breast Cancer Survivor by: Trish Rogers
Mary Ann Reynolds of Holly Grove has been a cancer survivor for seven and a half years. Reynolds was diagnosed with breast cancer Aug. 25, 1999 during a regular yearly mammogram. Reynolds remembers that she went to the appointment not thinking anything would be wrong and then during the mammogram, doctors found a tiny lump. The lump was so tiny and deep it could not have been found in a self-breast exam, Reynolds said. "After the radiologist found the lump on the mammogram, my gynecologist continued the rest of my checkup and my gynecologist couldn't even feel it - it was so tiny," Reynolds said. Being diagnosed with breast cancer was a great shock for Reynolds. She did not fit the mold for most breast cancer cases. She had been having a yearly mammogram every year since she was 40 years old, did not smoke or drink, was not overweight and had no family history of breast cancer. "You just never know," Reynolds said. "I encourage all women to have mammograms. That's what saved me. If I hadn't had one and not found the lump until it was large enough for me to feel, things might not have turned out the way they did." After the lump was found, Reynolds had a biopsy which proved that the lump was indeed malignant and was a solid mass that her surgeon said must be removed. Two weeks after the biopsy, doctors removed lymph nodes under her arm and the report showed there was no cancer, which meant nothing had spread, which was a good thing, Reynolds said. She then underwent surgery to have the lump removed. After the surgery she began a series of chemotherapy and radiation as the doctors said the type of cancer was very aggressive and it would be best to undergo the treatments. She underwent six treatments of chemo with three week intervals in between and 32 radiation treatments over a period of seven weeks. The cancer was gone and has been gone for seven and a half years. Reynolds still goes every four months for blood work and x-rays, goes to her surgeon every six months for a check up, has a yearly mammogram and scans periodically. Reynolds noted that when she was first diagnosed, she was devastated. "I was just devastated. I thought this is the end of my life, but then I started attending a breast cancer support group in Stuttgart called Breast Friends. One night at a meeting, Patricia Davis, a cancer survivor, told me "Mary Ann, this is not the end of your life. It's just an inconvenience for a few months and then I thought, gee it is only an inconvenience and things will get back to normal. And they have more or less except for more doctor's appointments," Reynolds commented. Reynolds credits her doctors for the wonderful treatment she received. "I had a wonderful medical team. When I saw how aggresively my doctors were approaching the surgery and treatment of the cancer, I began to have an entirely different attitude about it. It was like 'we're going to do thi'," Reynolds said. One of the hardest times during the cancer treatment for Reynolds was losing her hair. "The doctors told me the treatments might make my hair fall out and so I thought I had prepared myself for it. But I hadn't. When I was in the shower and looked down and saw my hair had come out...it was very hard," Reynolds remembers. "But I got a wig and it was matched to my hair color and styled as close to my own hair as possible and I made it through it." Reynolds noted that during her cancer treatment her family, friends and the people of Holly Grove were very supportive and good to her. "Many people in town volunteered to drive me back and forth to Little Rock when I was taking radiation. And it helped so much because it was so tiring for me," Reynolds said. "It meant so much to me for everyone to be so caring and thoughtful." Reynolds also credits the support of her son, daughter-in-law and husband for helping her through the ordeal. She and her husband, Bill, have one son and daughter-in-law, and a grandson and granddaughter. "My family was so supportive and helpful. My dear husband, Bill, was so attentive and supportive during it all. I could tell it was so hard on him to see me going through it. He was so good to me and was the main thing that got me through it," Reynolds said. Reynolds remembers on her way home from her surgery, it was the weekend of the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. "I had Bill go in and register me and get my t-shirt. I didn't walk that year because I had just had surgery. But I've participated every year since," Reynolds said. Reynolds commented that she truly appreciates the efforts of everyone who works to organize events such as Race for the Cure and Relay for Life. She noted that it just means so much to someone who's dealt with cancer to see others' efforts to fight the disease. "I appreciate everyone involved in such events. And I truly believe that someday there will be a cure for cancer. With everyone working together there can be," she said. Reynolds is a member of the Holly Grove Presbyterian Church. She loves to play gold and bridge and does so as often as possible. Reynolds encourages women to get their yearly mammograms and reminds those diagnosed with cancer that things will get back to normal. "Cancer is not the end of the world. It's just a bump in the road," Reynolds said.
