This is our first reader submitted "Self Asteame Profile."  Please look for additional inspiring stories in future editions of Self Asteame.

ARE YOU SITTING DOWN?
A Survivor’s Story
By Andrea Fox

“Are you sitting down?” was all he said. My surgeon was so stunned by the test results that he didn’t realize I was standing behind him as he lowered himself into his desk chair to deliver the bad news. And so began the journey that took me from the most frightening of places to some of the best and most positive places in my life.

Being diagnosed with breast cancer can be very lonely. You do learn a lot about yourself under these circumstances. I discovered an inner strength I didn’t know I had.

When I first heard the diagnosis, my first thought, incredibly enough, was, "how am I going to tell my mother?"

I have always approached things very matter-of-factly: “Give me the details,” “What can we do about it?” “When do we start?” But somehow, the thought of making that phone call stopped me cold.

What happened next is something of a blur. I am very lucky to have a brother who is a doctor. Without his deciphering everything for me, I’m not sure what I would have done.

There is an overwhelming amount of information to take in during the first weeks after being diagnosed. And even more decisions to be made – crucial decisions. Those I remember vividly: surgery, treatment, reconstruction, chemo, hair loss, more surgery. And, oh yeah, somehow I need to go to work, do my job, and just keep on living my everyday life.

I joined a support group (The Cancer Support Community in San Francisco) a few months after being diagnosed. I was skeptical at first since I did not want to be around whiners. I was fortunate enough to end up in a group of amazing women - powerful, successful, take-charge, “we’re on a mission” women. Advocacy groups were just starting to form, following the lead of the AIDS groups in raising awareness and money, and these women wanted to make a difference. One member established The Breast Cancer Fund, which focuses on the environmental causes of the disease.

Through these women’s inspiration, I became involved in various breast cancer activities and, as a result, met even more incredible women. I feel blessed every day that they came into my life. We have climbed mountains together – literally! The Breast Cancer Fund started a fundraising campaign in 1995 called “Climb Against the Odds” that sent a group of sixteen breast cancer survivors to Argentina to climb Mt. Aconcagua. Because of what those women accomplished, I followed in their tracks and climbed two mountains as a personal challenge.

I discovered an inner strength. Although, sadly, one heartbreaking discovery that almost did me in was that chocolate just doesn’t taste good while undergoing chemotherapy treatments. What's a girl to do without chocolate?

After living and working in San Francisco for twenty years, I relocated to Santa Barbara for a new job. That decision ultimately led me to what has become my life’s work at Mentor Corporation -- a maker of breast implants.

I manage the breast reconstruction business, which allows me to work on educational and outreach programs; doing work that is close to my heart. Being diagnosed with breast cancer went from a lonely, freightening experience to having the time of my life.