My gynecologist found a lump in my breast. He advised me to get a mammogram and to see a surgeon. My appointments were five days away, and I was scared. My mom, who had been suffering for years with her cancer, was having another surgery in three days. Not only was I worried about myself, I was worried about her, too.

Five days went by and I went to the appointments. They thought the lump was a fibroadenoma. The surgeon felt it would be best to remove it, and I agreed. I set up surgery.

On the day of the surgery my mom went with me. When I arrived back to my hospital room after the surgery was over, my mom was there, waiting for me. I was still feeling the effects of the drugs when the surgeon came into the room and revealed he had found cancer in the cells.

That was the beginning of the worst time of my life. I had breast cancer and my mom was battling ovarian cancer. The next several months were extremely difficult and painful for me. I had two surgeries. The first was the lumpectomy and the second was the sentinel node dissection. Then I had a third surgery where they removed an ovary for preservation should I became infertile from the chemotherapy. The plan was to have four rounds of chemo followed by 6 ? weeks of radiation.

After my second chemo treatment my mom was beginning to get very ill. She was admitted to the hospital and stayed there three weeks. The cancer was spreading and they couldn't help her anymore. She died on August 9, 1998, 9 days after my last chemo treatment. It was ironic because she died on the same date that she had a bone marrow transplant 3 years prior.

My mom was a legend. She fought for all those years and never gave up. She was a remarkable woman as she went through law school during her battle. She was someone people looked up to because she had so much strength.

I finished radiation treatments 10 days ago. I am now on the road to recovery, and I am going to do it, just like my mom did and would have expected me to.

Here's to you Mom.

• Breast Cancer Resource Center
• Ovary Cancer Resource Center