Beech Tree News Network

What started out as a regular day in Tina Porter’s life; a regular dinner, regular conversations, regular daily shower..etc.,; changed her life forever. Even though this particular day, she still didn’t realize she was getting ready to start a journey that would rock her world in the fall of 2009.

Tina had gotten out of the shower to discover a knot above her right breast. A knot big enough she could see, not just feel. After showing her husband and both of them deciding it was nothing, she proceeded to push it to the back of her mind and just remember to bring it up in January when she was due to her next mammogram. There was no history in Tina's immediate family of breast cancer, so she thought she did not need even to think cancer. Now, this was in the fall, we still had that season and winter to go before she was due her mammogram. Also, keep in mind, two years before this; she had this same place biopsied. At that time, the medical professionals told her it was a cyst and nothing at all to be of any concern because “these cysts do not turn into cancer.” So cancer was not a word Tina ever thought she would hear on a daily basis. So basically, there was no cause for alarm.
When January finally got here, Tina went for her regular mammogram. She immediately told the technician performing the biopsy about the knot above her breast. Now keep in mind, by this time, the knot had gotten much larger; so large that you could see it through Tina’s shirts. At that time, the technician told Tina she would note that in her file and not to be alarmed if the doctor called her back since there was that possibility with the knot showing up in the mammogram. So, sure enough, that’s exactly what happened, the doctor called Tina, but he had NO idea what she was talking about when she said: “I know, it’s about the knot.”
When it was discovered that the knot was not why the doctor had called back, Tina asked for clarification of why he did call, since the technician had told Tina she noted the knot in her chart (which she, in fact, had not, per the doctor). At that time, the doctor told Tina they had found a classification cluster, which could be an early sign of cancer. This is where her life’s journey quickly got curvy.
Since this cluster had been discovered, Tina’s doctor then proceeded to send her for another mammogram. This time it was a diagnostic mammogram. I want to note that being “mammogram illiterate”, I googled the difference in “screening mammograms” and “diagnostic mammograms” because I honestly had no idea what the difference was. Screening is just a regular yearly mammogram when there doesn’t seem to be any reason for concern, no symptoms or reason for concern; whereas the diagnostic mammogram is performed when a possible issue has been detected. Most of you probably knew that, but I want to know all I can about this horrific disease, so I wanted to make sure I brought that point out.
  The technician came in and was prepping Tina for this procedure, and Tina made sure she told her about the knot due to the fact, it was not getting seen in the mammograms because of the location, Remember, the knot was right above her breast, so it was too high to be detected. When the tech saw the knot, not only did her mouth fall open, Tina said “she literally gasp” at sight. The technician immediately took off out of the room and spoke to the doctor that was there, and he said he wanted it biopsied and it needed to be done today.
After what seemed like forever to Tina (as would have anyone else waiting for such results), on March 3,  2010, she finally received the call from the doctor…at school! I can’t even imagine in my mind how anyone could handle getting a call such as this at a place such as that. But giving the doctor the benefit of the doubt, I’m sure he didn’t know where she was, but in my opinion, and my opinion only, why would they not call her into the office to tell her such devastating news? Again, I’ve never dealt with this, so it’s strictly my opinion. At 42 years old, Tina was officially diagnosed with breast cancer.  (Tina and I want it noted that the paperwork was dated February 26, but she never received the call until March 3.)  With the cluster growing massively during all this waiting time, we thought it was important to note this.
While on the phone with the doctor, Tina had some wonderful co-workers that stood by her side and helped her try to take notes and make sense of the horrific message the doctor was delivering. Tina left shortly for the dreaded journey of telling the news to her loving family; her first stop being at her dad’s house. How do you tell your daddy, that his baby has cancer? I can’t even comprehend trying to do that. While sitting with her loving daddy, he told her it was caught early, and things would be fine, giving her all the reassurance in the world that he could at such a moment. Tina did say that’s what the doctor had told her as well, that it would be fine, everything would be fine. He told her she could have a lumpectomy, no chemo, no hair loss. It was just going to be FINE.

Walking into her house, she said she had “practiced” what she was going to say to her 14-year-old daughter, Audrey, and her 12-year-old son Andrew. Again, I can’t imagine trying to practice such a speech or form of action. Tina said she honestly couldn’t even remember if she had talked to her husband Scott that day at all or not, but she remembered walking by him in the kitchen on the way to tell the kids and said: “I have cancer.” She said his response was “what are you going to do” she said “I’m going to tell the kids” and she proceeded to do so.
As Tina approached Andrew’s door, she said she stood there thinking “nothings ever going to be the same; they will forever be the kid’s who’s mom has cancer.” After telling her only son that his mother has cancer, naturally, he asked her if she was scared. Of course, being honest, she said: “I am, but you know what, I’m started out in a good place, I’m healthier than I’ve ever been.” Before finding out she had cancer Tina had started, and I quote her, “walking like a maniac” because a doctor had been onto her about her weight, she had lost 50 pounds. She reassured her son that with her good health and good support system at school and a great family, things were going to be ok, she had this!
Then came the task of telling her only daughter, Audrey. Tina said she honestly doesn’t remember a lot about what they talked about, totally understandable, but when she got ready to leave the bedroom, Audrey asked her if she needed to keep this a secret, or if she could call her friend. Being the unselfish person that Tina is, she immediately told her she could call anyone she wanted because this was not going to be a secret. Tina knew that everyone, not just her, was going to need their support groups.

The next few days to come were a blur in Tina’s world; going through the motions of life.  She had spoken to a nurse friend of hers and told her that the doctor wanted to do another biopsy. Like I would have myself (not even being a nurse), her friend is like no, you need to cancel that. You have diagnosed with breast cancer; there’s no need for another biopsy. It was time to move on to begin getting this demon out of her.
Recommended by a family member, Tina then turned to Tennessee Breast Specialist in Nashville.  She called them for an appointment, and as with most specialist, they told her she would have to be referred by her doctor that they just couldn’t take her on as a patient with a referral. She proceeded to call the doctor’s office that diagnosed her and told them her plan of wanting to move on for further treatment. The nurse there told Tina she would try to call them. Well, not to my surprise, the lady never got back to Tina about the information requested.
Tina, taking things into her own hands, as anyone should, in this case, took off school and went to the doctor’s office and demanded her records and that they contact Nashville and get her in. The nurse told her she had called and she couldn’t get through. Tina’s exact words in response to that were “really, well I got through the first time I called yesterday.” Tina says she’s not a bold person, but that day, something came over her and she told that young lady “well I tell you what, I’ll sit here until you do get through.”
The nurse turned to go call “again” and came back very shortly and told Tina that the Specialist in Nashville wouldn’t see her. Devastated Tina asked, “why, what do you mean they won’t see me.” She said, “you canceled your last biopsy; they don’t want to see you.” In complete shock and full of devastation and concern Tina said: “what am I going to do, I have cancer, I’ve been diagnosed with cancer, I canceled my biopsy, what am I going to do.”  The response FLOORED me when Tina told me what the nurse said, and I quote “honey, I don’t know what you’re going to do.” And turned and walked off. I’m still in such shock over that whole situation, but I’ll move on with the story.
Like anyone would expect, Tina went out to her car, she sat, and she cried. Having no idea what to do, where to turn, thinking there was no hope, she just cried. Pretending like this not happening to her, she hadn’t been diagnosed with breast cancer; she was going to go home and forget it all. But the realization quickly set in and she knew that wasn’t going to happen because her loving friends and family were not going to accept that from her. So, as I say to people that I won’t let give up on bad situations, she sucked it up buttercup and took things into her own hands again. This woman is a fighter, she had the battle to fight, and she was going to take the bull by the horns and get this horrible Satan’s child out of her.
So Nashville hadn’t heard the last of Tina Porter, she got back on the phone with Tennessee Breast Specialist, and to her surprise, when she told them who she was, they informed her they were actually just talking about her. She told them with great concern that the nurse from Bowling Green had informed her that they wouldn’t see her because she had canceled her biopsy and stressed that she had already had the biopsy and already been diagnosed. She was immediately told they wanted to see her and ask her if she could come to Franklin immediately and she said yes. She was to get all her films, results, etc.  Reiterating that she was to come to Franklin, the doctor asks her if she knew where that was, she said no really but “it’s on the tip of KY right.” Wrong Franklin…it was in Tennessee.
Knowing she was going to find this place, although she had never driven on I-65 by herself, she got a printout map (back in the day that’s what we did), and she found her way to Tennessee Breast Specialist, with God as her co-pilot.
As soon as Tina arrived, an ultrasound was done in the doctor’s office. She said she talked to the lady physician while the test was being performed and told her she worried about the fact that maybe she has misunderstood all this and gotten everyone upset for nothing. What if she really doesn’t have cancer and this has all been a misunderstanding. The doctor’s words were “you don’t have to worry about that; you definitely have cancer.” Tina’s replied, “well I’ll mark that off my things to worry about.” Gotta love this girl's humor.
Tina proceeded to tell this doctor that the doctor in Bowling Green told her that they caught it early. The Nashville doctor wasn’t sure why that doctor had told her that. She informed her she needed a mastectomy. Tina’s reply was “I really don’t want a mastectomy.”  But with the knot being so high, she was informed that she would look so deformed when it would be cut out. She recommended that Tina have a double mastectomy, which totally caught Tina off guard thinking that it had spread to both breasts. But that was not the case.
The reason the doctor suggested a double mastectomy is because women that opt only for a single mastectomy have to come back every year for a mammogram, they live in fear, the feel lopsided, so Tina agreed to go with the double mastectomy. Now, keep in mind, Tina went to this visit thinking the doctors had caught the cancer early, she was looking to have the lumpectomy, never thinking she was going to be talking about a double mastectomy. Like myself, Tina said she was so uninformed about cancer and the differences in radiation and chemo because there was never a need for her to know. This wasn't going to ever happen to her; it happened to other people. But the doctor explained the difference, and she let Tina know right up front "your hair will fall out."
Devastated from the unexpected news of the double mastectomy, Tina went to the car, crying, she called her co-worker Mrs. Dye and told her "all of my at least" that I came down here with are gone. Tina had thought this whole time that "at least they caught it early".."at least it would just be a lumpectomy".."at least I barely have cancer." All of that hope and "at least"  were gone.
This round of telling her family was so much worse than the first round. Tina said that night when she arrived back home, she just completely had a breakdown while on the phone with her niece. She said when she had to tell her family about the first initial diagnosis, it was bad, but she was so misled by the doctor in Bowling Green thinking it was going to be FINE. Things were not going to be FINE she realized that night. Realization, and finally the truth, were setting in and it was very scary.
Having the great support group that Tina has at Morgantown Elementary, where she teaches, has been an incredible blessing. With all the above happening on Friday, she wanted so badly to go to school on Monday, but she wasn't ready to face everyone. With word getting out that she didn't want to have to walk down the hall, that she just wanted to be in her room without having to face anyone on the way, she arrived at school to find co-workers posted at different doors to walk in with her regardless of which way she came in. She praises Mr. Woodcock for being so kind and so understanding. He told her "do whatever you have to do." Now that's a support group. How wonderful that they knew how to help her get through this first day back since the devastating news.
All this was so much for Tina to try to comprehend. She said she remembers talking to her sister Angie and just saying "I just want hope" She didn't care if it had even gone into her lymph nods, she just didn't want to wake up, and them tell her there was no hope, it had gone too far. Tina, being the unselfish person she is, did tell me she honestly never once asked the question "why me.?" The only thought she had was "why NOT me, who am I that it shouldn't be me but the other lady." She was asked many times if she was mad at God, she said once again "I can honestly say, it never crossed my mind." She has been so blessed in her life, and the good had most certainly outweighed the bad and were mad at God never was an option.
The time came for the surgery; Tina was trying mentally daily to prep herself for the change that was getting ready to take place in her life. Not just her life, but everyone that loved her had to mentally prepare themselves for this change.  She had the double mastectomy and began reconstruction surgery at the same time. She said if she had it to do over, she would not have done that, but having been recommended by the doctor at Nashville, she opts to go ahead and do this. The cancer was really close to Tina's chest wall, like a fraction of a millimeter from the chest wall, so she had to have radiation. The plastic surgeon was so afraid the radiation was going to mess up the reconstruction that her health was the first concern. So she healed from the mastectomy and had the implants put into place. We want to note here that after her mastectomy, she found out within a little over two months, what had been classification clusters had grown into a 2.5 cm tumor. This was in LESS than three months!!! Again, early detection IS THE KEY! At this time, she was staged at 2B.
Tina said her first round of chemotherapy was when she honestly thought she was going to die. She said it was the sickest sick she had ever been. She just knew they had given her too much. But after the first one, she started taking treatments on Thursdays, going back to work on Friday's. WOW, what strength and dedication. Other than her first round, the only days off from teaching were the days she went to Nashville for her treatments.
When things were looking pretty good, Tina said she started feeling "lazy" and just so tired. She got to school one day and got so sick that a co-worker,  Beverly Simmons , had to take her to Nashville. She had developed an infection in one of her implants. An anti biotic was immediately prescribed. The doctor did not want her to have to start over with her reconstruction and was in hopes this antibiotic would take care of the issue at hand. But, it just wasn't that easy, unfortunately. By the next morning, Tina was so weak and sick; she could barely talk. I couldn't help but think of some of the Wal-Mart pictures I see on Facebook with people in their pajamas when Tina said: "you know how you always say, I'll never go to the doctor in my pajamas." She went to the doctor in her pajamas, once her mom came and helped Scott get her loaded up into the car, they took off to Nashville.
The doctor got so concerned when he saw Tina, that he sent her to the hospital and immediately they ordered up a stronger antibiotic and prepped her for emergency surgery. The implant was removed on the infected side during the surgery. They would have to start from scratch on reconstructing that side at a later time.

When Tina woke up from surgery, she overheard the nurses talking that she was "borderline septic." I of course, again being illiterate with cancer lingo, had to ask what that meant. It means when the infection is throughout your body you have to come home with a pic line for six weeks. Praise the Lord; they got to her in time that she did not have to do that. Tina came home to heal, and for six months she was lopsided. But she said this definitely proved to her that having the double mastectomy was the right thing for her to have had done. When the time came, they began the implant replacement.  This time she had a "latissimus dorsi flap" surgery where lower back muscle stretched under the skin, up to implant are to do reconstruction. The radiated skin was to messed up to do anything else. And after this surgery things really began looking up in Tina's world.  Praise God!
About two years later, after healing, Tina decided it was time to get back on the walking trail. She had gained all the weight back she had lost before this journey began and the doctors were onto her about her weight, so off she went. Well, like she hadn't already been through enough, she was a mile up the road, and she got bit by a neighbors "yippie" dog. Things didn't go well with the neighbor about that whole incident and Tina walked herself back home with blood literally running from the bite. Immediately, she went to Urgent care, told them her history and they loaded her up with a shot and antibiotics. But like before when she had gotten so sick and "lazy feeling" when the implant got infected, four days later Tina began feeling that feeling all over again and she knew something was wrong. She drove herself to Nashville to the plastic surgeon, and he was at a loss and couldn't understand why she felt so bad because nothing looked wrong with the implant. When Tina mentioned, the dog bite is when things started clicking. The doctor was shocked at the sight. The doctor asked Tina if she had a heart murmur and Tina's response was "well I don't know" he informed her if she did, the infection would go straight to her heart. Immediately she was admitted to the hospital. This time for four days. When she had the mastectomy, she was only there for two days. But again, praise the Lord, she went when she did, and they got everything back under control.
Twelve surgeries, six chemotherapy treatments, twenty-eight radiation treatments later, Tina feels great today. Even though she still has hair loss, she justifiably blames this on all the treatments. She has been checked, and there seems to be nothing going on "cancer" wise to cause any concern. She is cancer free, again PRAISE THE LORD.

I said "let's talk about turning Morgantown Pink Tina" and she, again, told me something I did not know. Her daughter Audrey had thrown the question out on Facebook about why Morgantown doesn't do anything for breast cancer awareness in October. Getting a response from Becky Hankins saying "let's do it" is what began this wonderful day of recognition five years ago. Tina loves the breast cancer awareness. She is a witness to women not thinking about her regular mammogram until she heard Tina's story at this event. That is such a wonderful thing and is why I think Pink is so important. Tina just hopes that by Turn Morgantown Pink other women that are newly diagnosed will be given hope and can see that they can do this and they won't ever be alone.

As Tina and I kept talking, she just kept amazing me with her great outlook on all this. She said even though she knows no one would ever volunteer for this horrible disease, so much good has come from her journey. She said she's met so many wonderful people and become such good friends with so many other survivors. She brags about the strength that her daughter Audrey has shown and how she has just blossomed into this advocate of breast cancer awareness.

In wrapping up Tina's story, I asked her for her advice to women that haven't been through this. She, of course, said "get your yearly mammograms. Take care of yourself, be your own advocate for your healthcare.  If something doesn't seem right, have it checked out. If the first place you go doesn't listen to you, go somewhere else. "
I want to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Tina for feeling comfortable enough with me to share her most intimate story. I had never had the privilege to know Tina before she agreed to do this story with me and oh my what a blessing she is.

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About Debby:
In 2014, I felt a calling from God to change the course of my photography. Here is a little info on Today's Miracle Photography:

Memories last forever; I have a deep passion for photography and writing, and have had for many years. I wanted to tie these two together and use my passion for the glory of God. When our granddaughter Lexi (not by blood) was born, and shortly passed, I felt God wanted me to share her story, from that point on, I've felt that calling. To reach out to people that have had miracles performed in their lives, to bring awareness to terminally ill people, people that have lost loved ones, people that struggle with addictions, just various aspects of life that God works miracles in.
God works miracles everyday, share yours with me and lets share it with the world. I believe these people I photo shoot and write about need prayer and the best way to start a prayer chain and praise God, is with a big group of people that will share all over the world. No miracle is to great or small to praise God for.

I have a page on Facebook named Today's Miracle Photography, please follow me there to capture these incredible people's story's and photos as well.

Debby Lanham