Lifestyle
I was never alone
By Tiffany GreenJONES CHAPEL — It was her 36th birthday and instead of celebrating, she was mourning the death of her grandmother.
“My grandmother had died on my birthday and then I found a lump and I just knew it was cancer,” Denise Hardin said.
It was February of 1999, when Denise found something she had always worried about.
Hardin has a family history of cancer. She had four aunts with breast cancer, and only one survived. Her father had thyroid cancer and her mother had melanoma and both of her maternal grandparents had cancer.
Not only was Hardin worried about the upcoming surgery, she had more bad news waiting for her.
“Three days before my mastectomy, I found out I had something on my thyroid,” she said.
She had a mastectomy on April 7 and went back to have her thyroid removed on May 8.
“It was two different tumors that were not connected,” she said of having two different cancer at the same time.
Doctors told Hardin she was about one in 300,000 diagnosed with different cancers within six months of each other.
Because of her family history of cancer, and her young age, she was considered a high risk patient.
Soon after her surgery, she began chemotherapy. She had eight treatments over six months.
“The hardest part was when my hair started falling out,” she said. “When you have to stop and unclog the shower to finish your shower, it is hard.”
She then cut her long hair short and asked her husband to shave it.
“It was hard for him,” she said. “But we went on the back porch one day and he shaved it for me.”
Denise said some of her fellow employees also shaved their heads in support of her.
“I had my days when I had pity party’s, but I was also very fortunate.”
Denise was never alone. A family member was at every doctor visit with her.
“My sister was able to bring me to all my treatments,” she said. “Through the whole time of going through the surgery and treatment, I was never alone. My family was always with me. I made it through it with a lot of prayers.”
Through the ordeal, Denise said she kept her faith.
“I know I couldn’t have done it without prayers and support from my family.”
Denise is now a 10 year cancer survivor, but still has her worries.
“I try to take things as they come, but whenever you get sick, it is hard not to think something may be wrong. I’m always so nervous when I have to go to the doctor.”
Just last week, her co-workers at Harmony School cafeteria gave her a special basket filled with pink ribbons, pink roses and sweet treats.
Denise is now more aware of cancer and its effects and hasn’t missed a Relay for Life since her sickness.
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