My name is Angelina Talkington. I am twenty- seven years old, and a mother of four beautiful blessings, my little girls and my baby boy. I’m here to tell my story to Courageous Care Family Foundation about my diagnosis.
In the summer of 2013, I was going through a rough patch in my life, within that summer I started to experience a sharp pain in my left breast that would come and go. As time went on, the pain got sharper. My body was telling me something wasn’t right.
My name is Angelina Talkington. I am twenty- seven years old, and a mother of four beautiful blessings, my little girls and my baby boy. I’m here to tell my story to Courageous Care Family Foundation about my diagnosis.
In the summer of 2013, I was going through a rough patch in my life, within that summer I started to experience a sharp pain in my left breast that would come and go. As time went on, the pain got sharper. My body was telling me something wasn’t right.
So I went in to have it checked out and the doctors examined me then told me I had clogged milk duck, and to take the antibiotics and If I didn’t notice change to come back in for further exams. My pain just kept increasing. I had not notice anything getting better, so I went back to the doctors and they gave me more antibiotics. They told me it was a stronger antibiotic and if that did not help, to come back in and they may have to drain fluid out from within my breast. Over time I took antibiotics as prescribed, but the pain was still there. Then just that moment, it strikes back again but sharper. But the thought of going back to doctors to have it drained just did not sound pleasing at all! But I knew I had to do something and fast! I reached out to family and friends and told them what was going on and my worries and concerns, from that point I took their advice and did some research, then went and got a second opinion.
I went to Saint Anthony North and expressed my symptoms and how nothing was helping. From then, they ran an ultrasound, and told me they were going to refer me to have a mammogram done. My worries became even more frightening, but I knew I had to do something quick. My mammogram was done October of 2013, and it did show abnormality. The next approach was to have a biopsy. The imaging from the biopsy did have proven carcinoma correspondents showing 3.5-centimeter tumor mass in my left Breast that had spread to my left axillary lymph node 2.1 cm in size. From that point, I was then referred to surgical breast cancer doctor for continue treatment.
I was HER2 positive. If left untreated, the growing tumor in my left breast could advance fast, So the treatment plan was, Chemotherapy and Herceptin, then surgery, then radiation. I also had a genetic testing done for family history of cancer that came back negative. My diagnosis and the stage it was at, was unknown as to how I got it.
As my medication list got longer, besides chemotherapy, I was given the following medications: Docetaxel and carboplatin every three weeks; Trastuzumals weekly, supported with Neulasta shots. Even though my areas were being treated properly, my side effects from the medications were making me really sick and weak. I had limitations from loss of appetite, hair loss, early stages of menopausal symptoms, nausea and vomiting, menstrual irregularities, and very low platelet counts causing bleeding of my nose regularly.
I knew I was doing everything in my power even though I felt as if I was dying from the inside out. I had to fight more than ever and not just for myself but for my daughters too. Chemotherapy was every three weeks, an hour long that began November 12, and completed tentatively February 25, 2014. The Herceptin was once a week and took about half hour each treatment that began November 12, 2014 and completed December 9, 2014. The Neulasta shots were every 3 weeks, for three months.
I chose to do a double mastectomy with lymph node removal because my chances were less than one percent of reoccurrence. On March of 2014, two weeks after surgery, I had my surgical drains removed. At my follow up appointment, they told me the cancer was gone! The pathology report had shown there were no more tumors, and everything was a success. The medicine worked how it should have, however there were little clusters left over from surgery, but they were so small doctors couldn’t even pull it up on microscope to even determine if they were active floating cancer cells or not. That however was not a good answer to me. So, the next option was radiation therapy, and yes I took it!
June of 2014, I began radiation for six weeks, every day for thirty minute sessions, I finished radiation successfully in July of 2014. I was finishing treatment on course. The reconstruction was my last and final step! And honestly after everything I been through this was my last concern. I just wanted to be done. I did not want to feel sick; I wanted my energy back and the outside of myself became less important to me then how I felt from the inside. But I knew this was just the icing on cake. Even though it requires more surgery, if I had been older at my age, my surgery where I had the breast removed, would have been my last because I didn’t want to be poked anymore, I had my plastic surgery September 16, 2014 just weeks before my birthday. To say the least I am just happy that I am alive! And yes, they may be fake, but my reals ones tried to kill me. My name is Angelina I am now 28 years old, and this is my survival story! And if I can inspire anyone battling cancer, I hope I have!
Angie lived to be thirty years old before she succumbed to stage four breast cancer that spread throughout her body and passed away three weeks before her wedding date to the love of her life, Tyler. She knew that they would see each other again someday and she would see her new baby boy and precious little girls again too since she had become a Christian the night before she had brain surgery the week before Christmas 2016.
