SANJUKTA MAJUMDER
SANJUKTA MAJUMDER, shares her inspirational journey, hats off
Our Hero
In Sanjukta’s words.. her MOTIVATIONAL story…
Hi! My name is Sanjukta Majumder and I’m from Charlotte, North Carolina. I am a Software Professional. I was diagnosed with Metaplastic Triple Negative Breast Cancer in March 2019.
My journey with breast cancer began in Jan 2019 when I felt a lump on my right breast during a self-exam of my breasts. I immediately made an appointment with my Primary Care physician. I have dense breasts and have been having annual Mammograms. Now, since I already had a mammogram done in July 2018 and the results came clean then, the physician told that this might not be anything alarming, but she still recommended a mammogram just to be on the safer side. 2 Mammograms followed by an Ultrasound indicated the possibility of a malignant tumor. Doctor did a biopsy.
On March 29th, 2019 I was called to the radiologist office and was given the bad news that I have Metaplastic Triple Negative Stage 2 Breast Cancer, a rare and very aggressive form of breast cancer. My husband and I were quite shaken up. Instantly, it seemed that my world had turned upside-down. I had no family history of cancer hence my first reaction was “Why me?” and that too, a non-hormonal related BC. The next thing that came to my mind was how to break this news to my then 12-year-old daughter and 7-year-old son. We were in dire straits. My husband and I sat with the kids and revealed the news to the kids. My daughter had a lot of questions in her mind like “What exactly did the doctor say?”, “How big is the tumor?”, “What would be the treatment?” and “How long would it last?”. My son only asked "Mom, are you going to be ok?" He just needed the assurance that his Mom would be ok. It really amazed me how boldly, they handled the situation. In fact, I had never known my kids to be so matured and perhaps at that instant, they had made up their mind to make it easier for me to fight the battle.
In the next few days, I met my oncologist and breast surgeon. My generic test showed I am BRCA negative which was a relief as I have a daughter. After going through a series of tests and a port installation, I started my Chemotherapy on March 24th. My cancer regime included 12 weekly Taxol and 4 AC (every 3 weeks) cycles of chemotherapy, followed by lumpectomy and 30 sessions of radiation. Since I had the option to work from home, I continued to work throughout my cancer treatment. I used to only take half a day off on the days I had my chemotherapy scheduled. My job kept me preoccupied during the day, otherwise perhaps worries and negative thoughts would have taken a toll on me. During chemo, occasionally I felt fatigued but that was manageable with some rest. However, the most brutal side effect of chemo was the mouth sore during the AC chemo.
I am tremendously grateful to my doctors and nurses who have treated me with great care. My family was very supportive throughout my journey. My kids were my pillars of strength and never let me give up. There were days were I felt tired, depressed and could not hold back my tears. My daughter kept on saying "Mama why are you crying? Please don’t cry. If you cry, we would also start crying". Sometimes we would just have cried together to let the grief out. During this period my friends had been of immense support to me and my family. I am grateful to my family and friends for their constant support and encouragement. I am thankful to my oncologist friend for his support. These actually gave me the strength and I made up my mind to face the brutes and deal with this toughest challenge of my lifetime.
I got a lot of lessons from the disease and its ensuing daunting treatment. Now I can boast of having a “never give up” attitude to life and staying positive in the face of adversity. Perhaps these are a few takeaways from the Cancer.
Cancer has taught me how important it is to be vigilant. I consider myself fortunate that I was able to detect the lump myself through the self-exam of the breast and contacted the doctor immediately, otherwise with the kind of aggressive cancer I had, it would have spread rapidly. So self-exam of the breast is the key to early detection.
My advice for all would be if you feel any change in your body that is bothering you, immediately contact the doctor. I have friends who have avoided annual mammogram scheduling for some reason or another. Please don't put off with your mammogram. Do regular self-exam of your breast. Early detection can save a life.
I want to sincerely thank Breast Cancer Hub for giving me an opportunity to share my cancer journey.