|
|
Article: Breast Cancer in the Family -- After a double mastectomy, Shannon Hopkins came to terms with her physical being as it now exists
- Article from:
- Yakima Herald-Republic
- Article date:
- October 9, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright 2002 Yakima Herald-Republic. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
Cancer has plagued the women in Shannon Hopkins' family for
generations.
Hopkins' grandmother, great-grandmother and two great-aunts died
from either breast or ovarian cancer. Her sister recently had a pre-
cancerous lump removed.
Hopkins' mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 1999 and
had a double mastectomy, but the cancer returned about a year and a
half ago.
So when Hopkins found a lump in one of her own breasts, her first
reaction was to have them both removed.
Immediately.
"I thought, "Just chop the things off. It's no big deal,' " she
said. "But it wasn't that simple."
Hopkins will talk about the decisions she had to make in a
presentation at 8 this evening at Kendall Hall ...