Surviving Breast Cancer Through Early Detection

According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 1,900 women in Mississippi will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. About 440 of them will die from the disease. In todays health news, MPB's Lawayne Childrey introduces us to one Ridgeland woman who has confronted breast cancer head on and is fighting to beat the odds.

On November 27th 2007, Regenia Shearrill of Ridgeland had a life changing experience with just a simple touch of her finger.

“I was just lead to touch the inside of my underarm. And when I touched it I noticed and felt a lump. And at first I was in disbelief but I touched it again and realized that that is actually what I felt.”

The 38 year old African American is an office manager in Jackson. It was hard for her to imagine that she could have breast cancer, a disease that no other woman in her family has had.

“And I said Lord, I said there’s nobody here but me and you, what am I gonna do? And he immediately just told me, I got you and when he said that relief came over me and within five seconds of laying my head on the pillow, I was sleep.”

The next morning the question still remained, could the lump she found really be breast cancer. It was Regenia's plan not to tell anyone about her discovery until after she had seen her doctor. But she did tell her sister who is a Radiologic technologists specializing in mammography.

“And ah, when I initially told her she didn’t say anything and so I didn’t know if she heard me or not so I repeated it. And then I asked her, I said well do you wanna feel the lump and she was like no. And I was like please. So I told her and when my husband came back in town I told him. And her thing was you know you need to go see the doctor. So I made a doctor’s appointment.”

After going to the doctor, Regenia's lump was still too small to be detected by a mammogram. But her doctor was able to feel the lump and ordered additional tests to confirm that it was cancer. Dr, Ralph Vance is past president of the American Cancer Society. He is also an oncologist at University Medical Center. Dr Vance suggest that women of all ages get to know their bodies thoroughly by doing regular self breast examinations. He also strongly recommends that women begin getting regular mammogram's by age 40.

“If we can get Mississippi women to listen up, use their heads, be examined and get a mammogram we could decrease the incidence of advance disease and certainly then decrease the mortality that might arise by having the disease in the first.”

Regenia was only 38 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, Dr. Vance says often when a woman is that young it has the potential to be more severe and faster growing than it would for a woman diagnosed at 58. Regenia's cancer was found early and with the love and support of her family she had a bi-lateral mastectomy and intense chemotherapy treatments. Even though Regenia says she was prepared mentally and spiritually for the surgery which would cause her to lose both breast, she says she was not prepared for the affects of the chemotherapy.

“My hair was my glory and I put a scarf over it and I actually had my sister to come over and comb it. And later my husband told me that as she was combing it she was crying because it was coming out.”

It's been two years since Regenia was diagnosed with breast cancer. Today she is cancer free and shares her experience with anyone who will listen.

“And if they had not known what I was going through they would not believe that I was going through. That I was a breast cancer patient and now a survivor. But they can take how I’ve lived the smiles that I given, the encouragement that I given, and they can take that and share it with someone else.”

For MPB News, I'm Lawayne Childrey.