Diana Faris is just 58 years old and has been diagnosed with breast cancer not once – but twice. “The first time was in 2007 when something with my left breast just didn’t look right,” she remembers. “I went to the doctor, and it was determined that it was breast cancer. It was already in my lymph nodes, so it was staged as a 3 or a 4.”
It was sobering news that would be difficult for anyone to hear. Faris was only 41 at the time with a husband and three young children ranging from six to 15 years old. Her medical response was aggressive. “I had a double mastectomy, a hysterectomy, eight rounds of chemotherapy and 35 radiation treatments – and I won!”
Not a Fair Fight
For 17 years, Diana lived cancer free. She raised her children, welcomed two grand babies into the world and spoiled them rotten. It wasn’t until Palm Sunday this year, that she learned the cancer had returned. “I went to the emergency room thinking I would get some antibiotics for a UTI when a CT scan revealed the cancer was back and had metastasized into my liver and my bones. I was dumbfounded.”
Faris admits she was defiant when she walked into
Laila Babar’s, M.D., office for the first time. “I was mad. I told her I had plans written down on my calendar in ink and I planned on completing them. I told her I had these little people now who mean everything to me, and I needed to live as long as possible for them.”
Babar is an oncologist with the
INTEGRIS Health Cancer Institute at
INTEGRIS Health Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City. She empathized with Faris and encouraged her to keep living life. “I told her that she was not alone in this fight, we would do everything in our power to give her the best chance against this disease and that I would be with her every step of the way.”
Keep Living
Diana’s treatment plan, this time, includes some radiation treatments for pain, daily oral medications, biweekly blood work, monthly EKGs, bone drips and the occasional paracentesis – a procedure to remove fluid from her abdomen. Babar says Diana’s lesions on her liver are shrinking and are half the size they were at the beginning.
“My hope for Diana is that she can keep living this wonderful life and maintain her ferocity and her strength for as long as possible,” she proclaims. “With new treatments coming up, the survival timelines, even for patients with advanced breast cancer, are getting better and better and I am hoping Diana can be there for all the wonderful little milestones with her grandchildren.”
“Cancer is crappy, there’s no denying that,” Faris declares. “But Dr. Babar and really everyone at
INTEGRIS Health, has been amazing.” She continues, “I know this is something that isn’t going to go away. My focus now is managing the disease and living life to the fullest.”
She encourages all women to get their recommended annual mammograms to hopefully catch the cancer earlier than she did. And she says if you ever do find yourself facing a breast cancer diagnosis, no matter the stage, keep making plans. Write them down on your calendar not in pencil, but in ink. Live for today and always expect tomorrow to come.
To
schedule your mammogram, call 855-MY-MAMMO (855-696-2666) or talk with your doctor for more information.
