Cerritos Resident's Battle with Breast Cancer

Nearly three years ago, Susan Wu received a call from her doctor that gave her life a 360-degree turn.

He told her that she had breast cancer—and that the next step was to immediately schedule an appointment with a surgeon.

“My mind went blank for a while before the tears came,” Wu recalls. “All I could think was, how long did I have to live?”

She had been getting annual mammograms, but the results did not reveal any signs of cancer. She also had a biopsy done on her right breast two years earlier, but the results came back negative. As a result, the doctors didn’t recommend doing a biopsy for her left breast at that time.

Though she felt a few lumps on her left breast, Wu didn’t think it would be anything serious. But in 2009, her doctor recommended she do a biopsy just to be safe. And sure enough, the results came back positive for cancer.

At that point she had no idea what was ahead of her. She made the earliest appointment she could for a mastectomy, the surgery treatment for breast cancer that involves removing one or both of the breasts.

“Your whole thinking changes,” Wu said. “I would hold on to life so tightly. But after I got sick, I was able to understand what it was like to lose everything. I was able to reflect on life, and how it’s not anything you can really control.”

One thing she remembers clearly from the day of the mastectomy was the moment before entering the surgery room. She found it very comforting that the surgeon himself came out to push her into the surgery room.  Through the mastectomy, it was determined that Wu had Stage 3 breast cancer and her treatment would involve chemotherapy and radiation.

For three months, Wu went through chemotherapy five hours a day every other week. She also went through radiation nearly every day. To prevent the gradual loss of hair, she shaved all of it off and used wigs instead.  Her appetite was unusual during the first few days of chemotherapy, and it was a gradual process to start eating again.

The love shown from friends and family were a crucial part of her recovery process. She also believes that time gave her a chance to reflect on her life and what she really wanted to do with it.  She had worked as an accountant for many years because it felt safe and stable. But after the whole experience, she decided that she wanted to attend cosmetology school and eventually start a business in skin care.

She recently opened her skin care treatment studio, , in Cerritos.  

It’s been nearly three years since her treatment, but Wu doesn’t feel sad when she reflects upon the experience with breast cancer. Instead, she feels blessed with everything she has learned and she's happy with how her life has progressed since then.

“I’m a person who likes to plan, and I had always liked to plan every stage of my life,” said Wu. “But I realized I can’t plan my life, and I needed to give it all to God. Every experience is different, but I encourage people to think positive.  It will help you as you go through the treatment process.”

Breast cancer affects one in eight women in the United States. To learn more about breast cancer symptoms, diagnosis and treatment, visit breastcancer.org. To support funding for research on prevention and cure, visit nbcf.org or komen.org.