Denise Albert is a busy woman.
She founded The MOMs media company. She enjoys music, concerts, and time with her boyfriend. She is also a happily divorced mom of two young boys aged 10 and 13.
She is also a breast cancer survivor.
The Diagnosis
It was three months after a clear mammography that Alberts discovered the lump in her breast and soon after was given the diagnosis of breast cancer.
She underwent two years of aggressive treatment to save her life.
Albert had a lumpectomy to remove the lump, she then had very intensive chemotherapy for six months following that. Afterwards, she had daily radiation for 6 weeks and immunotherapy infusions for a year.
Now, Denise Albert shares her continuing struggle for life after breast cancer and the fears and decisions she has to make to keep moving forward.
Coping Through Diagnosis and Treatment
Albert states that everyone’s journey though breast cancer is different. For her, she survived by trying to keep some semblance of normalcy. She hosted parties and went on trips with her children.
Albert found that engaging with her cancer community friends from all over the country helps inspire her and give her hope.
Denise Albert tried to face her cancer head-on while maintaining her life. In fact, she shaved her head and hosted an event for her media company the same day. She went to a concert the very night before her first chemotherapy event.
But Albert still felt the effects of the cancer and treatment.
Albert says she lost all her hair, lost ten pounds, and lost her appetite. There were days when she worried if she would ever feel, or look, normal or healthy again.
She was even mistreated on a business trip by TSA agents who performed a pat down and removed her wig, which left her very frazzled and distraught.
Her treatment ended a year ago and her hair is growing back. But the treatment caused a reaction on her body that makes her skin very susceptible to allergic reaction and she also now has Rheumatoid arthritis.
Looking Towards the Future
In the past year, Denise Albert has scheduled a surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes three times. And she has cancelled the surgery twice.
Why is she considering this optional surgery?
Albert says she is constantly worried that she will get ovarian cancer and her doctor says that, for her, removing her ovaries and fallopian tubes may be a good choice. Albert does not currently have vvarian cancer but there may be a slight risk, particularly if she is genetically predisposed.
She struggles with the pros and risks of the surgery.
On one hand, removing her ovaries would get rid of the estrogen that feeds her cancer. But at the same time, having no estrogen would mean mood swings, potential depression, a decrease in libido and even painful sexual intimacy.
Albert has met with her oncologist many times over the past nine months and asked all the questions she can think too ask. She has finally rescheduled her surgery without cancelling, but she is still questioning her decisions and what is the best course of action for her health and wellbeing.
“Maybe the surgery is just the next step in this journey,” Albert says.
Read Denise’s story here.
