Submitted photo Brieann and Jason Alston of Marshall posed for a photo recently with their two children, Liam, and Athena.

MARSHALL — Conquering cancer is half the battle. Dealing with the aftereffects of chemotherapy and radiation is a whole other fight.

The good news is that Brieann Alston of Marshall, who was diagnosed last year with breast cancer, has been pronounced “cancer free” by her doctors. The bad news is she is dealing with the pain of lymph node removal and a double mastectomy, plus she needs to take numerous medications to offset the chemotherapy and radiation, which has ravaged her body — including her heart.

“What is my new normal?” Alston said. “Will my strength be what it was? It definitely is a journey and not an easy one. I just keep going, keep a positive attitude. It’s a long road that doesn’t end when you are cancer free unfortunately. But I’m doing better. I’m very happy to be alive. Very grateful. I enjoy my family and my kids.”

The 36-year-old mother of Liam, who will be 7 Oct. 31, and Athena, who is 4, was diagnosed about a year ago with stage three Paget disease of the breast, an aggressive and invasive cancer.

The news hit her especially hard because she was 7 when her father died from pancreatic cancer.

“I didn’t want to do that to my kids,” said Alston. Her father died when he was 35, the same age as Alston was when she was diagnosed.

“Four days after I turned 7, he passed,” she said.

Her children know their mom was ill.

“I showed them my ‘owies,’ (her scars)” she said. “They know I was sick. When we drive by the hospital, they say, ‘that’s mommy’s doctor.'”

May 20 was her last round of radiation. She was happy she got to ring the bell. Her last round of chemotherapy was in Dec. 8.

She had 17 lymph nodes removed under her left armpit. That area is painful and she has limited range of movement in that arm.

She is numb from the nerve damage.

“I can’t tell the difference between hot and cold,” she said.

She has tissue expanders that stretch her skin so it can allow for reconstructive surgery.

“They are painful,” she said.

Alston said she can’t wait for reconstruction surgery so “I can feel somewhat normal.”

She has a 5 pound weight limit.

“I can’t even lift a gallon of milk,” she said. “Even using a stapler — I can feel it. You don’t realize the chest muscles that you use every day.”

Alston takes medication for her heart which was weakened by the chemotherapy.

Dehydrated, it was hard to find her veins for the IVs. A port was put in her chest but the area got infected. She had to be hospitalized in Sioux Falls, S.D., for 17 days.

“My hemoglobin was down to a 5,” she said. “I think 14 and a half is normal.”

Of course her hair fell out.

“Two weeks after my first treatment, Sept. 10, I cut and shaved my head,” she said.

By March her hair was starting to come back, although it’s different now. Her eyebrows are sparcer too.

Alston, a customer service representative at First Independent, went back to work in June.

“I love my job,” she said, adding that she was grateful that she had short-term disability insurance and the bank had long-term disability for her.

“I was told I could come back to my position,” she said. “Life doesn’t stop because you are ill. Bills don’t stop. I came back for two and three hours a day. I was barely able to handle that. I pushed myself to make it through a day.”

Alston said she had all her treatments at the cancer center in Marshall except for her surgery.

“The staff, everybody, was just amazing,” she said.

She is grateful for her husband’s support.

“I don’t know what I would have done without my husband,” she said. “He took care of me. He emptied my drain tubes multiple times a day.”

Jason Alston said in an Instagram message shared with the Independent that he felt like cancer was like “an untouchable darkness trying to take someone I love.”

He thanked everyone who helped out, particularly family friend Crystal Yearous and his mother who traveled from North Carolina to stay with the family for two months when Breiann was having surgery and in recovery.

Breiann Alston said she, too, is very grateful for help from friends and family.

“I’m thankful to everyone who helped out,” she said.

A Community Impact Fundraiser Night organized by Yearous took place last October for Alston at the Pizza Ranch in Marshall.

“They said it was the largest turnout they’ve ever had,” said Alston.