The dramatically changed behavior of the one-year-old baby made the woman go to the doctor.
“He is my little guardian angel. I am indebted to my son because I owe him my life. Now he can get away with anything, I will forgive him even murder. Even the doctors said that what he did was very strange, ”says 37-year-old Joan. She recently completed the eighth round of chemotherapy. But, if not for her son Dougie, the woman would never have known that she had cancer.
Joan is a nurse, she single-handedly brings up two children: the eldest, Isla, and the youngest, baby Dougie. He was born in April 2014 – a strong and healthy baby. Mom was going to breastfeed her little son longer, because she knew for sure that nature had not invented anything better than mother’s milk for children. But one day, when he was two months old, Dougie refused to breastfeed. And only the right one.
The baby’s mom was puzzled. After all, if the child was tired of breastfeeding, he would refuse it altogether. Just in case, Joan decided to check her breasts: suddenly a lump had formed somewhere that was blocking the milk canal. And I found a pea-sized lump on my right nipple. The doctor prescribed her a course of antibiotics, ordered her to return if the “pea” did not dissolve. It did not dissolve. Joan was sent for a consultation with an oncologist.
“I was very scared. I immediately felt that something was wrong with this lump. I was prescribed a biopsy and a scan. And soon they were diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer – invasive ductal cancer, ”Joan recalls.
The doctors were really surprised that it was her son’s behavior that made the woman go to the doctors. After all, the tumor did not affect either the quality of milk or lactation in any way.
“I think the lump next to the nipple was just making Dougie uncomfortable when he took the breast. Thank God I didn’t bottle feed him! ” – says the woman.
Upon hearing the diagnosis, Joan burst into tears. All she could think of were children. Quite still crumbs, they will be left completely alone. But soon she was able to pull herself together. In addition, the doctors said that although this form of cancer is aggressive, it can be treated. Joan had only one thing to do: pull herself together and begin treatment.
Three years of aggressive therapy went on: chemotherapy went through eight rounds of chemotherapy. She lost her hair, was completely broken. Her joints ached, she felt that it was not cancer that was killing her at all, but treatment. But chemotherapy was doing its job. Cancer cells became less and less, and last year doctors removed the remnants of the tumor. Joan has been in remission for a year now.
“When I found out I was healthy, I burst into tears again, just like when I heard the diagnosis,” says Joan.
Now the woman is undergoing additional training: she is learning how to conduct chemotherapy. She cannot return to work yet, because she needs to recover from severe treatment. But she’s happy just because she’s alive.
“I still think how lucky I was that Dougie behaved like that. Now my only task is to live life to the fullest, to spend time with children. They are my whole world. “