Faces of Breast Cancer: Amanda Hidalgo Myers. Part 2
Reclaiming Her Life
Myers opted for reconstructive surgery (a several-month-long process of expanding the chest muscle before a saline implant can be inserted) and began intensive physical therapy a few days after surgery. She didn’t have chemotherapy or radiation. Myers said she didn’t realize it at the time, but she had slipped into depression. “I didn’t want to leave the house and I couldn’t sleep,” she said.
Myers set out on a path back to herself. She began therapy, started reading motivational books and began doing volunteer work. She began playing piano again about a month and a half after the surgery and said she crept back into ballet class a few months later. “It was difficult to lift my arm up and away from my body,” she said. “But I kept at it. I needed to try to get my life back.”
It was at about that time that a co-worker suggested she enter a beauty pageant for the title of Mrs. Arizona United States. “I said to myself, `You should do this. It’ll be good for you,’” Myers said. “I thought it would be helpful to set a goal for myself — to work toward something. I also knew if I won, I’d have a forum.”
But as soon as she enrolled in the pageant she wanted to back out. “I thought, ‘What am I doing?’” she said. Still, she placed among the top 10 finalists in the pageant.
When the Mrs. Arizona Globe pageant rolled around a short time later she figured she would give it another shot. “And this time I won,” she said.
In addition, she was first runner-up in the national competition of Mrs. U.S. Globe and was named “Most Recognized” as the contestant who had made the most appearances during her reign.
Life as a Survivor
“You’ve got to take an active role in your health,” she said. “Do monthly breast exams to learn what’s normal for you. If there’s a problem, ask questions and make sure you get answers you understand.”
Recently, Myers’ mother was also diagnosed with breast cancer. “It’s ironic. All along, the doctors kept saying I couldn’t have breast cancer because it didn’t run in my family,” she said. “Well, it does. I guess it just started with me.”
Despite her great strides, Myers said her recovery continues. “I’ll never be completely 100 percent,” she said. “Not really. It doesn’t just end for me with, `I’m all better now.’ Three years after breast cancer is a weird place to be. I still have to be a part of my recovery. I have to battle my fear of reoccurrence. I have to keep going to support groups and I have to keep reading motivational books and thinking positive thoughts. I’m waiting to breathe that big sigh of relief when I reach my five-year mark as a survivor, but my life goes on.”
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