Welcome! While I do have Cancer, I don't want it to be the only thing that defines me, so here's a little bit about me first. My name is Sue Fleharty and I am a 59 year old mom of three kids- Kaitlin, 33, Ryan, 31 and Kara, 28. I also am lucky enough to have two grandsons Jack, 3 1/2 and Bennett 1 1/2. I live in Oak Lawn, IL, a suburb of Chicago, with my cat Thomas. I spent my career working with seniors at churches and retirement homes. I’ve been on disability for a few years now as the Cancer has prohibited me from working. In my free time I help direct the children's drama group my daughter Kara runs called The Potter's House. I have been doing that for 19 years now and absolutely love it. I am passionate about helping kids find their way in life and find a place where they belong. I love to travel and am lucky enough to have been to all 50 states. I am adventurous, spontaneous, and quite chatty. My dad use to give me a quarter to stop talking when I was little! My life was moving along in a positive direction when suddenly, one day, that all changed. God threw a curve ball into my life.
It all started when I found a lump in my right breast while doing my monthly self exam in March of 2014. At first I thought it might just be a weird lymph node or something else, so I waited a day to see if it went away. The next night it was still there, a hard, round lump. I went to my doctor the next day and she ordered a mammogram and ultrasound in case nothing showed up on the mammo. She suggested I get the test the very next day (note to self: never a good sign). The mammogram showed nothing, so they sent me upstairs for the ultrasound. A 2 cm tumor was discovered, so off I went two days later to have a biopsy. The biopsy showed Stage 1 Cancer.
My next stop was the "cancer clinic" to meet with a team of people who told me what I needed to do (they also served turkey sandwiches and fruit punch during the 6 hour visit). I scheduled a lumpectomy for a week later. Because my tumor was a grade 3, meaning it was aggressive, it was decided I would need both chemo and radiation.
Following surgery, the chemo started. After 4 months of chemo I started the 33 radiation treatments. And finally, on Halloween of 2014, I rang the bell and the radiation team cheered me on ringing their bells as we celebrated what we all thought was The End of my Cancer "journey".
Fast forward to a strange chest pain in March of 2016. My doctor ordered an x-ray to "be on the safe side". A mere three hours after the chest x-ray the doctor called with the news. "We found a nodule in your lung". I was at my desk at work when I got the call. I told her I was freaking out and could she say anything that would make me feel better? To which she replied, "No, I'm sorry."
This biopsy revealed Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer in my lung. And so here I go again. I hope you will follow along as I go through the ups and downs of Stage 4. I hope I make you laugh, make you cry, make you stop and think, and make you believe in whatever it is you need to believe in. If you would like to contact me directly, just email me at [email protected]
It all started when I found a lump in my right breast while doing my monthly self exam in March of 2014. At first I thought it might just be a weird lymph node or something else, so I waited a day to see if it went away. The next night it was still there, a hard, round lump. I went to my doctor the next day and she ordered a mammogram and ultrasound in case nothing showed up on the mammo. She suggested I get the test the very next day (note to self: never a good sign). The mammogram showed nothing, so they sent me upstairs for the ultrasound. A 2 cm tumor was discovered, so off I went two days later to have a biopsy. The biopsy showed Stage 1 Cancer.
My next stop was the "cancer clinic" to meet with a team of people who told me what I needed to do (they also served turkey sandwiches and fruit punch during the 6 hour visit). I scheduled a lumpectomy for a week later. Because my tumor was a grade 3, meaning it was aggressive, it was decided I would need both chemo and radiation.
Following surgery, the chemo started. After 4 months of chemo I started the 33 radiation treatments. And finally, on Halloween of 2014, I rang the bell and the radiation team cheered me on ringing their bells as we celebrated what we all thought was The End of my Cancer "journey".
Fast forward to a strange chest pain in March of 2016. My doctor ordered an x-ray to "be on the safe side". A mere three hours after the chest x-ray the doctor called with the news. "We found a nodule in your lung". I was at my desk at work when I got the call. I told her I was freaking out and could she say anything that would make me feel better? To which she replied, "No, I'm sorry."
This biopsy revealed Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer in my lung. And so here I go again. I hope you will follow along as I go through the ups and downs of Stage 4. I hope I make you laugh, make you cry, make you stop and think, and make you believe in whatever it is you need to believe in. If you would like to contact me directly, just email me at [email protected]