Oct. 16--Maggie Harris can sum up in one word what it is like to be in remission from breast cancer: "wonderful."
Harris and fellow breast cancer survivors Wanda Furches and Celeste Feimster, all co-workers at Carolina Office Systems, are celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness Month -- and the gift of life.
"This has happened to us for a reason," Harris said. "I really do feel like a survivor."
Harris, 57, who has been in remission for four years, learned she had breast cancer after finding a lump that did not show up on a mammogram.
She initially thought it was a cyst, but doctors soon told her otherwise.
A tumor the size of an orange had to be removed, and Harris wound up having a double mastectomy.
"I ended up having 12 surgeries including reconstruction," she said.
She endured chemotherapy, radiation and several plastic surgeries for implants.
Since being free of cancer Harris has stepped back to survey life.
"You look at life different and what's important to you," she said. "Enjoy today and not look at yesterday."
'You amaze yourself'
Had it not been for a routine mammogram in May of 2008, Furches, 49, might not have discovered that she had breast cancer.
Within one week of the mammogram, Furches had been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer and was having surgery to remove a cancerous lump on the side of her breast.
"It was the most shocking thing you can ever be told," she said. "It's the most devastating thing to hear."
She had a lumpectomy and had lymph nodes removed. She went on to have "aggressive" chemo treatments in the form of eight rounds of chemo and 33 sessions of radiation.
Through it all, Furches said, she was determined to beat the cancer.
"You amaze yourself because you get determined. 'This is not going to get me down,' " she said.
Furches may be in remission since her last treatment date, Dec. 30, a date that will forever be etched in her memory, but said she will never consider herself cancer-free.
If she has learned anything from her experience, it is to be thankful for what she has.
"It does make you appreciate life and friends," she said. "Now I feel I can do anything and I'm glad to have the opportunity to do so."
A new outlook
Just as Furches was ending her treatments, her co-worker, Feimster, was beginning hers.
Feimster learned she had stage two breast cancer in November 2008.
She had fibrocystic breasts and had been having discomfort and pain in one of them.
"I never would have thought it was cancer," she said. "I didn't have any family history."
Physicians abstracted a 1-inch tumor from her left breast and lymph nodes from under her arm.
She was grateful to be able to seek advice from Furches, who had just faced the same battle.
"Nobody knows what you go through until you go through it," she said.
Feimster has been in remission since July and has used her experience to do some soul-searching.
"I looked at it as an opportunity to find out about my relationship with God," she said.
Three months into remission, she is back on track and attending Gardner-Webb University to get a degree in business administration.
"You look at life in a totally different realm of light," Feimster said.
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