By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

LAPLACE – Early detection and an aggressive approach by her doctors helped LaPlace resident Lisa Savoie conquer breast cancer rather quickly.

Savoie said she was diagnosed in October 2008 after she felt a hard mass on one of her breasts. She went to the doctor a week later to have it looked at. A mammogram, ultrasound and PET/CT scan confirmed her fears.

“It was not a normal lump, just a hard mass so I wasn’t completely sure,” Savoie said. “When it was finally determined to be cancer, all I could do was look at my doctor and ask, ‘Can you help me?’ He said, ‘That’s what I am here for. If it is just in the breast we can cure it.’ It was really reassuring.”

Savoie said the doctors began chemotherapy at the end of October and continued until April. She said the tumor was rather large but added the chemo killed most of it. Only a trace remained at the time of her surgery.

“There is always a lot of fear about what the medicine will do to you, but there have been lots of new strides in treatment,” Savoie said. “I know that different people are affected at different levels, but the treatments did not knock me out anymore than I normally get doing day-to-day activities. I had a great family support group including sisters, parents, sisters-in-law, who almost wanted to do too much for me.”

Savoie said the hardest thing for her to cope with was that she would inevitably lose her hair in treatment. She was concerned that it would make her look sicker than she actually was. To combat the issue, Savoie kept it as positive as she could.

“I had lots of fun picking out unique wigs to wear,” she said. “At first I thought that they would be noticeable, but they are not as obvious as you might think. They are doing wonderful things with these wigs.”

Savoie said early detection is key to a quick and easy recovery. She said it is important to know your body and to pick up on subtle changes when they happen.

“Perform self exams, get a mammogram, do blood work no matter how busy you are,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to go to the doctor and talk to them about what you are feeling. The earlier the better.”