Living with Breast Cancer

The day Doreen Stevens of Cape Girardeau rejoiced in the birth of her first grandchild was marred by the fact that it was also the day she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

A few days earlier Stevens, 49, noticed a lump in her breast. Knowing she has a family history of breast cancer, she wasted no time getting it checked out and then a lumpectomy. Radiation treatment followed, then chemotherapy.

Stevens slowed down somewhat; she now works two jobs instead of three. She copes through faith and with the help of Turning Point, a series of programs for breast cancer patients and survivors.

After first trying to be strong, Stevens said she had a little " meltdown" one day on the job at the drive-through window of Burger King.

"It hadn't sunk in," she sad. "Then I said OK, let's get this over with."

It helps to talk about it, she said.

"I can't not say anything about it," Stevens said. "That's my therapy. I have had my boss pray with me in the middle of Burger King. Customers have prayed with me and cried with me. It's my way of coping."

Meeting other breast cancer patients who share a common bond also makes coping easier.

"People can say 'I know what you're going through' but I am sorry, they don' know what I'm going through except the ones who have been through it or are going through it," she said.

Stevens says it's important for her to learn and to teach as much as she can about breast cancer for the sake of her daughter and her new granddaughter -- there is a family history.

"That's the reason I'm going to be around," she said. "Anything I can do to help them."

Turning Point can be reached by calling 986-4400. Bosom Buddies, a support group for breast cancer patients and survivors, is available; call 651-5825. Breast Cancer Support Group meets monthly; call 331-5209.