This beautiful angel is my son Blake Austin.
Blake Austin was born on Jan. 26th of 1990.
He is such a sweet, precious little boy!

This beautiful baby is my miracle, angel baby, Hunter Logan.
Hunter Logan was born on Feb. 2nd of 1996.
I thank God daily for allowing me to be the mommy to these two beautiful boys!

My Favorite Angel Links

• Angels On The Net
  
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• Angel Stories
  
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• WillyPaul's Angel Home Page
  
• Spiritual and Inspirational Links
  

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This award given to me by my special angel friend, Anita

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Breast Cancer Awareness

By now you have probably asked yourself what is "Sent By Angels". And hopefully after you have visited my pages and heard my story you will know why I believe that I am Sent By Angels.

To tell you a little about me I need to go back to Aug. of '92. I was 29 years old and the mother of a beautiful 2 year old son, Blake Austin.

On Sunday evening I stood in the shower and preformed a self breast examination. Never before had I done this and to this day I still question what made me doing the self examination! The only answer I have is my higher power whom I prefer to call God.

Upon examing my left breast I discovered a lump. About the size of a large marble. I begin examining my right breast hoping to the find the same lump on this side. But no.....there was no lump in the right breast.

I felt the left breast again hoping it was gone and that I hadn't felt anything. The lump was there. In the same position.

To make a long story short the next morning I went into my doctor's office and asked to be examined and told her that I had discovered a lump.

My doctor told me it was nothing to worry about, that I was 29 years old with no history of cancer in my family, that I didn't smoke and I wasn't on the pill. She sent me home and told me I was fine. Unfortunately, I believed her. I didn't go to another doctor (as I know now that I should have).

About a week later I phoned the same doctor and asked to be seen again. Explained that the lump was still there (only bigger). She more or less patronized me and said "if it would make me feel better then come in".

Yes....it did make me feel better so I went in and this time my husband (my best friend of 10 years) went with me! After hearing the doctor say again that everything was fine, my husband asked that I have a mammogram done. The doctor (a female doctor) ordered the mammogram but unfortunately it was scheduled for 2 weeks away. I would have to wait and worry for another 2 weeks (plus feel the lump grow and grow).

Again, we should have done something about the delay but we didn't. We trusted our doctor and left our live in her hands. Never again!

I had the mammogram done and was told that I needed to have a biopsy immediately.

I found a surgeon (a wonderful surgeon and wonderful man) and the surgery was scheduled for the next day. My surgeon is a wonderful, kind, caring man. He tried to set my fears at ease by reminding me that I was only 29 years old, no history of cancer, and didn't smoke. He told me everything would be fine. But when I awoke after surgery everything was NOT fine. I was told that I had cancer.

My whole world felt like it was coming to an end. How could this be? How could I have cancer. I didn't smoke. My husband was the smoker. As strange as it sounds now, I was mad at the time that I had the cancer and he didn't. I was a mommy. All I had ever dreamed of was being a mommy and now after 2 short years it was going to be taken away from me. No way! No way!

My doctors sent me home and told me to think things over. Asked me to think about what procedures would be best for me?

Did I want to choose Chemo and Radiation or Mastectomy and Radiation. I was told that a 15 year study showed that one was not better than the other.

Four days after I was told that I had cancer, I was in my master bedroom's bathroom. I was sitting in the middle of the floor and I was crying my heart out. My husband was in bed asleep as was the rest of my family. I had been so brave up to this point. I couldn't let my family see that I was falling apart so I went into the bathroom in the middle of the night and here was where I would and could cry my heart out without anyone knowing.

All of a sudden I heard the most beautiful music. Music that totally relaxed me. Music that to this day I still long to hear just one more time. It was angels singing. That I now know.

And just as soon as I heard the music start before me stood an angel!

A male angel had appeared before me. His words were simple and this is what he said, "You will live if you do what your doctors tell you to do."

Although, I can't remember if his lips moved or if he passed the words to my mind without talking. Because while he was talking I still heard the beautiful music.

My boby was no longer trembling from the sobbing. I was at total peace. I wasn't afraid. I wasn't angry. I wasn't anything for that moment.

And then....just as soon as he had appeared, he was gone.

But I remember the music stayed for a moment longer.

My doctors told me I would have 7 months of Chemo and then 36 straight days of Radiation. It was scary. But I prayed to God for courage. I prayed to God for strength. I prayed to God for white light (to heal my body).

It's funny looking back on my angel encounter. Some how, and I don't really know how, the angel got all the credit for me getting well. And then I remember something I read .... about a miracle is really God just letting someone else have the credit. And then I think of my angel and know that God is letting the angel have all the credit. When really we all know that God asked the angel to appear before me and relay his message. And I thanked my angel but I can't remember if I thanked God.

So, if you'll please excuse me, I'd like to thank Him.

Dear God,

Thank you for letting me find my lump before the cancer had taken over my body. Thank you for always hearing my prayers when I was scared. Thank you God for holding my left hand during all my surgeries. And thank you for allowing my angel to hold my right hand. And most of all, Dear God, thank you for sending an angel my way. Thanking you letting me be Blake Austin's mommy a little while longer. Thank you for his 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th birthday parties. Thank you for the first day of kindergarten. Thank you for his first girlfriend, Tori. And Dear God, thank you for always being there with me in the Chemo chair and Radiation table. And thank you for being there when the doctors said that I was cancer free! And Dear Lord, if this wasn't enough....you blessed me with another child when I was told that I probably wouldn't be able to have any more children. Along came my angel baby....Hunter Logan. Thank you God for family and friends that stayed true to me during my cancer endeavor. Welll, I guess you know this already but this Aug 4th will be 5 years Dear God and for that I am enternally thankful! Thank you God for each and every day you give me! Amen.

And so, now you know why I refer to the term "Sent By Angels". And now you should know why I also sign my letters or emails with "keep listening to the angels sing".

I would like to thank the following doctors for the wonderful care and love they gave to me.

Dr. John Beaumont (my surgeon).
Dr. Kirby (my oncologist)
Dr. Greenburg (my radiologist)

And a thank you to the staff of HCA Hospital where my surgeries were performed. Everyone was so kind and loving.

Remember ladies.....you must examine your breast! It saved my life and it could save yours too!

Did You Know......

That every 3 minutes a woman is diagnosed with breast caner

And every 12 minutes a woman dies from it!

My Informative Cancer Links

• Cancer News On The Net
  





A New Test to Detect Breast Cancer


If your mammogram comes back with an abnormality, your radiologist can now use a new test to get more information about whether or not it's cancer. The imaging test, which is called Miraluma, has just been approved by the Food and Drug Administration; it will be used if dense breasts prevent a radiologist from adequately viewing contours of the breast, or if a spot on a mammogram seems suspicious. The test should offer a significantly better imaging technique for women under 40, whose breasts tend to be more dense. "Conducting the Miraluma test after inconclusive mammograms may help us catch more women in the safety net of early detection," says Amy Langer, executive director of the National Alliance of Breast Cancer Organizations (NABCO).




The test works like this: A radioactive drug is injected into the arm, then special cameras are used to take pictures of the breast. Concentrations of the drug are up to nine times higher in malignant cells, making them appear much darker than normal cells. The only side effect women are likely to experience is a slightly metallic taste after the injection.




Leonard M. Freeman, M.D., director of the department of nuclear medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in New York, says the Miraluma test has an accuracy rate of about 90 percent. He adds that the test, which costs between $600 and $700 and is covered by insurance, is appropriate when doctors suspect that a lump is benign — which is the case 60 to 70 percent of the time. If the lump appears to be malignant after the test, doctors can then order a biopsy, which is more expensive than the Miraluma test. "But," says Dr. Freeman, "if doctors suspect a malignant lump they should do a biopsy immediately."




   — Francesca L. Kritz, 7/8/97

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