Journey Begins: One woman tells her story from discovery to dealing with cancer

This summer, Monica Edmonds and her husband made a plan. In 2012, they would add a baby to their family of five, but on Sept. 11, Monica saw a shadow that turned out to be more than just doubt.

The Bernie, Mo., wife and mother of three had her shirt off while fixing her hair that Sunday. She lifted her left arm and saw a shadow on the underside of her left breast.

"At first I wasn't even certain I'd seen anything," Monica said.

Less than a week later, she was diagnosed with aggressive, stage-two, invasive ductal carcinoma and was scheduled for a double mastectomy Oct. 5.

Monica called in sick Sept. 12. Her local nurse practitioner sent her to the Southeast Missouri Breast Care and Diagnostic Center in Cape Girardeau the same day. There, she was given a mammogram, an ultrasound and a biopsy.

Breast cancer awareness ribbons lay spread across a table. (Laura Simon)

On Sept. 13, she was going through the motions at work when her cellphone rang.

"You have breast cancer," the doctor said.

"I literally dropped the phone and stood there. I was shocked. I just stood still," Monica said. She turned to her co-worker, "Tell him I'll call him back when I can breathe."

"I went into panic mode," she said. "I thought about the baby."

At home that night Monica and Ian consoled one another, talked and then joined ranks with his sister, Alicia Edmonds, to form their battle plan. Alicia went through a breast cancer scare Memorial Day 2002. She has promised to be Monica's partner through her experience.

"Monica is a caregiver, a nurturer," Alicia said. "She worries about how whatever is happening will affect other people."

They discussed where she could go and how she should find a doctor. She could have the surgery in Cape Girardeau. She could drive to St. Louis, but Monica wanted to find a doctor who made her feel comfortable.

"It was important to me to have a survivor's face associated with the surgeon I chose," she said.

She turned to a friend from school, Becky Dennington, a breast cancer survivor who completed treatments in April. Last year Monica sold bracelets and helped with fundraising to help Dennington with her journey through cancer.

"Now, here I am," she said. "I'm a nurse, but the words 'You have breast cancer' didn't tell me what to expect."

She saw Dennington as a tour guide.

"She was calm, gave it a face, a name and it comforted me," she said. "That was what I needed. She could answer my questions."

On Sept. 16, Monica consulted with Dr. Julie Matgenthaler, a surgical oncologist with Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. She learned she has two tumors, a very aggressive, invasive ductal carcinoma, and noninvasive carcinoma.

"Invasive ductal carcinoma accounts for 80 percent of breast cancers and is the most common type," Matgenthaler said.

Breast cancer history

Monica also has a history of cancer on her mother's side of the family.

"Four aunts have died from cancer and one isn't expected to live past Thanksgiving," she said.

Because of her family history, she started mammograms in her 20s. She fought her insurance company at age 27 and demanded they begin paying for annual mammograms. They agreed and Monica diligently schedules her check ups.

"This past February I had a scare," she said, "I was told there was something unusual about my right breast."

The results of an ultra sound showed nothing.

A breast cancer awareness sign sits on a table. (Laura Simon)

"I let my mammogram fool me," Monica said. "I didn't do my due diligence, didn't intentionally check my breasts in the mirror every month between mammograms.

"I don't feel sick. It's not obvious. There's no pain, no discharge, nothing except an indentation," she said.

Monica wonders what feelings she will have when her breasts are gone, how she will feel when she loses her hair; how her children are going to cope when she can't hug them after surgery because of the drainage tubes and soreness. Monica said she wonders if Ian will still find her attractive.

"I didn't marry an appearance, I married a person," Ian Edmonds said. "When we married we had one reality. Now we just have to adjust to another."

Addition to the family

Ian and Monica both brought children into the marriage. They wanted to officially blend the family by adding to their three children: James, 16; Mattie, 11; and Chloe, 7.

Matgenthaler said doctors usually address questions about fertility in pre-menopausal women. She answered some for Monica, who eventually connected with the LIVESTRONG Foundation's fertility preservation program, Fertile Hope. One of Fertile Hope's missions is to address the fertility needs of people that have been diagnosed with cancer.

"They partner with fertility clinics around the country and services are provided at a discount through in-kind donations," said Melissa Sileo with LIVESTRONG. This includes hormone stimulating therapeutic drugs, the harvesting, and possibly the storage of eggs for a time.

Monica is currently undergoing the hormone treatments required for harvesting her eggs. A fertility clinic in St. Louis will perform the procedure before her mastectomy in October. Once she finishes her surgeries and treatments, she and Ian can still choose to add a child to their family, although they will be responsible for the associated costs.

It's a journey

The results of tests done during the mastectomy will determine the next course of action. Positive lymph nodes mean radiation, which changes the course of treatment, she said. Doctors will place expanders in her chest to hold a place for breast reconstruction.

"It is a journey, a process. From diagnosis until reconstruction is completed will be about 14 months," she said.

Matgenthaler said the most important thing is to catch it early. If it is diagnosed early, there is very effective treatment available and most women can be cured.

"There is reason to be optimistic that you can become a survivor," she said.

Monica hates waiting for answers, which she said, "come in stages.

"Anxiety and not knowing, waiting for the doctors to call, waiting for the next step. But I trust in God's plan for my life's journey and I embrace it."