A mother with rare breast cancer asks women to be examined

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "In the honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, Yahoo Lifestyle will release first-person accounts of people affected by the disease, who will be responsible for the deaths of about 40,920 women (and nearly 500 men) this year. All women have about a 1 in 8 risk for life to develop a form of breast cancer. Awareness, screening and early detection can save lives. "data-reactid =" 31 ">In the honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October, Yahoo Lifestyle will release first-person accounts of people affected by the disease, who will be responsible for the deaths of about 40,920 women (and nearly 500 men) this year. All women have about a 1 in 8 risk for life to develop a form of breast cancer. Awareness, screening and early detection can save lives.

<p class = "canvas-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "it's the story of Shyniqua Gray, 27, as said to Beth Greenfield for Yahoo Lifestyle. Gray, from Columbia, South Carolina, was recently diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for only 15% of all breast cancers, and affects African-American women three times more than Caucasian women . "Triple negative" means that the three most common types of receptors known to promote the growth of breast cancer – estrogen, progesterone and the HER-2 / neu gene – are not present, which may make it more aggressive and difficult to treat."data-reactid =" 32 ">it's the story of Shyniqua Gray, 27, as said to Beth Greenfield for Yahoo Lifestyle. Gray, from Columbia, South Carolina, was recently diagnosed with triple-negative breast cancer, which accounts for only 15% of all breast cancers, and affects African-American women three times more than Caucasian women . "Triple negative" means that the three most common types of receptors known to promote the growth of breast cancer – estrogen, progesterone and the HER-2 / neu gene – are not present, which may make it more aggressive and difficult to treat.

In January, I was in the shower and I felt a lump in my chest. I did not think it was breast cancer. Just before, I had a lot of weight loss, so I thought it was adipose tissue. Breast cancer does not run on either side of my family.

I waited. And then, I saw a lady I've known since elementary school at Facebook, a newly diagnosed breast cancer, after thinking it was adipose tissue. So that's when I thought: let me go check. I went to my obstetrics and he did it [an exam] and felt the hump too and sent me for a mammogram. That's when they saw a problem. On August 29, I underwent a biopsy and on September 4, I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer.

I was shocked. I am so young and it was not something I would have thought of. You have heard different people talking about breast cancer, but I did not know anything about it and I had never heard of triple negative breast cancer. I learned [it affects African-American women more]and I also learned that they had no cure, unlike other breast cancers. The only way to treat it is chemotherapy.

I will be in chemotherapy for five months. They started me with two different drugs [on Sept. 24]and I will follow them every two weeks on a Monday for eight weeks. I have to go to Charleston, which takes about an hour and a half [away]. My mother leaves, my son leaves, and my son's father drives, but we come and go immediately and do not spend the night. It's exhausting.

I am a single mother of a 6 year old boy and I work in an incoming BMW factory, scanning some parts when they are delivered by trucks and forwarding them to the chain. I work 10 hours a day, third quarter, from 7:30 in the evening to 6:10 in the morning.

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But I could not go to work last week. I was weak; I could not eat, I could not drink. I was very tired, so I could not go there. I went to the doctor yesterday and she noticed that I had lost four pounds and that my white blood cell count was [low]so she took me out of work for eight weeks.

I will not be paid because I have not been in post for a year to receive FMLA. I am at Medicaid and, in addition, I have health insurance, so … I think I will be covered. My aunt has created a GoFundMe page to help you with income. Everyone is trying to help their best. Someone referred to Shondia McFadden-Sabari, of Bold & Breastless, for emotional support. So I contacted her on Facebook and she responded. She calls me several times a week to encourage me, pray for me and motivate me. She shares my story on her social media pages.

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