When breast cancer struck early, I didn’t lose hope

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(Nichola Precious/ HuffPost Canada) — Three years ago, I had no hair and had just begun my first of 20 rounds of radiation.

Up to that point I thought I was living a fortunate and happy life in Halifax. I had married my best friend and the love of my life. Once our careers were underway we had two amazing children. When the timing was right, I decided to take a risk and follow my passions, and opened my own business — an art studio for kids. My life was playing out as well as I could have ever hoped.

Two months after opening my studio I found a lump on my breast. The next month, I was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma.

I was only 35 years old and had no family history of breast cancer, or any cancer for that matter. The diagnosis left me in shock. In fact, it felt like a surreal out of body experience. At first, I had trouble even admitting that I had breast cancer, because I didn’t feel sick or ill. I remember my immediate reaction was, “Why me? Why now, when everything in my life seems to be moving in the right direction?”

Earlier that year, my husband lost his father to leukemia. He was an amazing man who never gave up his positive outlook. He fought a long battle and had us convinced right up to the last week of his life that he could overcome his cancer. He had shown me how to fight these battles graciously and to never give up. He didn’t complain and when I came face-to-face with my own diagnosis, I vowed that neither would I. (…)

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