Whether it’s the smell of fall in the air or leaves falling to the ground, to Kelli Beckman it’s all about the little things.
“You know, everything just has a brighter color to it. I think that’s more of how I see the world now,” said Beckman.
Beckman is a fun-loving, hard-working mom of four and works a full-time job, but something you may not know…
“We weren’t worried about it. I didn’t have a family history, and so she called me back for another mammogram, and she said ‘don’t worry, it happens all the time.’ Well that ended up, in turn, giving me the diagnosis on my 36th birthday that I had breast cancer,” explained Beckman.
That day in 2007 was the first day of a whole new life for Beckman.
“I was Stage 2B. I had a bilateral mastectomy. It was in my lymph nodes. So, I had my lymph nodes removed. I did a year of treatment, 36 rounds of radiation,” explained Beckman.
However, that was her first battle.
“Toward the end of 2010, I started having this little spot on my head. It never occurred to me that it could be breast cancer again. I had a tumor that was actually about this big, and then whenever I did my PET Scan, I had other tumors in my head. I had a tumor in my pelvic bone. So, all of a sudden, I become Stage 4,” explained Beckman.
Now, years later, Beckman is in remission.
“I have two, I have ‘Big Daddy’ up here, and then there’s one that’s over here, and chemo took care of all of the others,” said Beckman.
Beckman said her faith, her family and support from organizations like Susan G. Komen helped her make it through, but she does have some advice for those women who are not sure if getting a mammogram is right for them.
“That saved my life. It was already in my lymph nodes. I was already Stage 2B, and I didn’t know, and so, I am a firm believer that you should have your mammograms,” said Beckman. “I personally think it should be a 35. I think that all women who do not have a family history should have a baseline.”
Beckman gets a PET Scan every month and has to take medication daily as part of ongoing care.