LIFE'S IMPORTANT THINGS IN FOCUS AFTER BREAST CANCER DIAGNOSIS.
When Kimason “Kiki” Brown
was feeling at her lowest, sick and sore from the surgeries, chemotherapy and
radiation sessions treating her breast cancer, her closest friend knew just how
to behave.
She stayed far away from
Brown’s sore spots, cuddled for hours in their Orcutt home, warned off would-be
visitors when Brown was not ready for them and welcomed them into their Orcutt
home when she was well for the company.
“She knew there was a
problem. I would cry; she would spoon with me. She’s 12 pounds of affection,”
Brown said of her Chipin canine friend RZA.
The pinscher-marked,
Chihuahua-sized bundle of affection was supported in her care efforts by an
in-depth circle of Santa Maria family and friends after Brown’s annual
mammogram turned up breast tissue riddled with cancer.
“It was a shocker. I do
mammograms all the time. In one year, it went from nothing to breasts crammed
with cancer. It was just about last night,” Brown said.
She would be considered
skipping a year, but well-publicized well-check incentive programs reminded her
to make her appointment, nagged her into carrying on with her annual routine.
And she is grateful.
“Had I not gone, I
probably would not be here a year from now. It is something people should do,”
she said.
A double mastectomy in
October followed by radiation and chemotherapy took down the cybersecurity tech
marketing professional. She lost her nails, her hair, and picked up neuropathy,
but continued performing from home.
“My journey has been,
thanks to Mission Hope, very smooth, but losing your nails, hair, the mucous
covering my eyes when my lashes fell out, bleeding nails, that is all been a
horrible, horrible, horrible experience that no one can prepare you for,” Brown
said.
Now under the care of Dr
Dustin Stevenson, Brown has taken advantage of programs offered by Mission Hope
Cancer Center. Dignity Health nurses have provided in-home care. Nurse
navigators have guided her down the trail through treatment to aftercare.
Scarf-tying and make-up classes are godsends, she said.
“The Look Good, Feel Good
program was awesome. I did the scarf-tying class twice. It was nice to speak to
other women and see them browsing it also. It was nice to possess that
camaraderie right off,” Brown said.
The granddaughter of
Santa Maria 2020 Citizens of the Year Ori and Gladys Johnson has no shortage of
family, but when it came to talking cancer, the going got rough.
“I did not know who to
speak to with this. I was shaking. Even the family does not know what to
mention, but these women knew because they are all browsing it, too,” Brown
said.
She credited the positive
daily presence of her care team with driving her forward.
“The team has been just
awesome. There have been days I can barely drag myself out of bed, but they are
there with smiling faces and just helpful. They suit your mood once you are
available and you are feeling personally cared for,” Brown said.
Now she is looking toward
recovery and healing.
“I am having trouble with
the cosmetic surgery thing because once you first see it, it is not what you
expect. It is not pretty down there,” she said.
And there is tons of
labour to travel toward reconstruction: radiation, spacers and eventually implant
surgery.
“You can keep this diet,
but I had been within the middle of a weight challenge, so there is that,”
Brown said of the load loss her treatment caused.
“This whole experience
has made me consider what is important in my life. The chase of the cash, the
mansion, whatever, none of that matters. None of it. What matters to me is once
I awaken and that I can see light and I am alive, I even have sun on my face,
that is priceless. It is not that I did not notice it before, but I appreciate
it now. It is not that I did not appreciate and love my friends and family
before, but I am getting to tell people how I feel. I am not getting to await a
special day,” Brown said.
As she heals and
therefore the widespread clears, she will return to church camaraderie,
gathering and karaoke. As her neuropathy is dissipating, she will return to
putting together modern miniature dollhouses.
“Cancer is not the end.
With individuals like Mission Hope, you can make it and you will be just fine,”
Brown said.
Source:syv news