10 Year Breast Cancer Survivor

Kathy Ashby Paige is a 10 year breast cancer survivor. This is her story.

It was a normal day early August, 2003 getting my classroom ready for 698 freshmen students.  I cleaned my office, decorated two bulletin boards, set up and disinfected all my computers and left school early for my annual pap smear.  A routine breast exam revealed a suspicious lump that my doctor wanted biopsied.  No big deal; I’d had bad pap smears before. This would be nothing.  I was the last appointment of the day so my doctor escorted me in the back door of the hospital and arranged the biopsy then.  She told me to come back the next morning at 9 to discuss the results.

The following morning my doctor entered the room, sat down in front of me and took my hands. “The bad news is you have breast cancer, but the good news is we found it early.”  My heart began racing and my mind was thinking of all the things I had to get done to make sure my kids would be taken care of.  I didn’t hear half of what she said; just that I needed to schedule surgery immediately.  I was terrified.

UK Markey Cancer Center

I came home and started researching cancer doctors; I called every nurse I knew and asked everyone if they knew any breast cancer survivors.  I talked to as many people as I could that week, interviewed three top surgeons and made my choice to partner with UK Markey Cancer Center.  August 12^th I was in surgery.  My two hour surgery turned into eight hours when a second tumor was discovered, but at the end of the day both of my cancerous tumors were removed.  I had opted for the least intrusive lumpectomy, but now was faced with a second reconstruction surgery due to the second tumor, but that would come later.  First I had to get started with the chemotherapy treatment.

Chemotherapy

School was starting and I was convinced I could handle my treatment, keep up with my boy’s football schedules and miss very little school.  Seriously, I was president of my woman’s club and involved in several community charities; this little thing called cancer wasn’t about to interrupt my schedule.  I just added a few things to my list:  surgery, chemo, radiation, etc.

I had a fabulous sub that called me a lot and we somehow managed to keep things flowing like clockwork.  I took my chemo on Wednesdays and would return to work the following Tuesday, worked a couple of 4 day weeks and then repeated the cycle.   There were days I felt better than others, but I just checked days off the calendar and celebrated being a quarter the way through and a third the way, etc.  I used a lot of sick days, but I never stopped working.

Hair Loss

My hair fell out quick and as much as I had prepared it was worse than I had expected. It just made me look so sick.   I came home from school the first day I had to wear a wig and both of my boys greeted me with bald heads.  We laughed and took a few goofy pictures.

I really love those guys!   I bought several wigs and had fun changing my hair style and color.  My students knew the situation and couldn’t wait to see what color my hair would be.  My principal and co-workers were fabulous and hosted a party after my last treatment and presented me with a spa day.  Celebrating the completion of my chemo regimen and checking another big thing off my list was huge.  Two weeks to rest before 46 radiation treatments began.

Things I learned

That was a horrible year in some ways, but a million good things happened that made me a better person.  I learned to love more deeply, I learned to appreciate little things and not take for granted the many blessings in my life, I learned to be more patient, to live life to the fullest, and I learned how to say NO.  I will never stop volunteering, but I did take a break from some of my positions.  I spend as much time with my family as possible, I have retired (early) and have just celebrated TEN YEARS being cancer free.  God is good.