Beginning of My Breast Cancer Journey

Well, the secret is out - I am a breast cancer survivor. (We may dive into that more later down the road.) With us meeting for the first time, I thought I would share this short story I wrote several years ago. This how it began and thankfully 15 years later I'm still here. I don't want cancer to define me, but I guess it kinda does whether I want it to or not. These were hard scary times that brought out strength I didn't know I had. Please get your mammograms and be a health advocate for yourself. And if you find yourself facing scary things, just know that you have the strength too.

On March 16, 2010 at the age of 39, I arrived at the Breast Center for my first mammogram. I was a little nervous, but had heard it was only uncomfortable for a very short time. It was very quick and no big deal at all. As the nurse was leading me back to the changing room, she asked if I had had a physical breast exam lately. I hadn’t, so she suggested we do one before I left. As she was doing the exam, she (and I) felt something in my left breast. She said it was more than likely a cyst, but she wanted to speak with the doctor. I don’t remember thinking ‘cancer’ at this point. The nurse returned and said the doctor would like to do an ultrasound. So, I was taken to another room for that procedure. It was clearly on the ultrasound as a large white spot, for lack of a better term. She said it was about 2centimeter solid and that a biopsy would be needed to tell for sure what it was. On March 23, 2010, I had an “ultrasound guided vacuum assisted” biopsy and around 5:00 pm the following day, the phone rang and it was my gynecologist. He said the lab results were in and it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. It was a malignant tumor–cancer. After several days of tests and doctors’ appointments, by April 5, 2010, it was time to make some decisions. Tests had confirmed I had a 2.2 centimeter malignant tumor that was stage II invasive ductal carcinoma, HR-, PR-, HER2-(known as “triple negative” which I later came to find out that in this case, negative was not good.) I was also BRAC1 positive–I had the “breast cancer gene”. I had already decided that if this was the case, I wanted a bilateral mastectomy. I wanted to reduce my chances of going through this again anyway I could. The surgeon agreed that it was a good idea. My other concern was I wanted to do a one-step mastectomy/reconstruction. The only problem was that I wouldn’t know about the lymph nodes until it was too late. My husband suggested taking out the lymph nodes prior to the mastectomy, so we would know if I could have reconstruction at the same time. The surgeon said that was not typical, but he didn’t see a problem with it. We scheduled surgery for a lymph node dissection and port placement for the next week. So, a plan was in motion and now we could only wait. I can honestly say a lot of the waiting I did was the worst part of the whole ordeal. But, these things take time and as my husband said, “We’re not going to eat the elephant all at once.” We were going to take it day by day and that’s what we did. At 8:00 am April 12, 2010, I was in surgery. I prayed, prayed, prayed for negative nodes. The surgery took about an hour and I woke up in the recovery room and was soon wheeled to my room. I had about12 stitches and a drainage tube under my left arm and the port had been inserted on my upper right chest for my chemo treatments. Two days later, the surgeon called to say the nodes were negative. Yay! The cancer had not spread to my lymph nodes–this was great news. I don’t think I really realized at the moment how big this news really was. Also, I would be able to have reconstruction along with the mastectomy. April 28, 2010, today was the day. It was hard to believe it was here. By 9:00 am, I was just lying there in the pre-op room waiting. The surgeon and my ob/gyn came by, then the anesthesiologist. Pretty soon the anesthesia must have kicked in because I don’t remember anything until waking up in the recovery room. I was alive! I tried to make out the clock, but couldn’t. So, the first thing I asked was “What time is it?” It was 5:10 pm. I had undergone a 6 hour surgery! Wow! The doctor said I would be released the next day. What?!? I didn’t think I would be ready for that, but he said I would be better off recuperating at home. My husband and I struggled through the next day thinking it was too early to go home. My husband even questioned the nurse about if it was a good idea or not. She said I would be fine at home. A double mastectomy with reconstruction! Were they sure about this?!? The nurse gave me all my prescriptions and supplies and showed us how to empty and care for the drainage tubes. By 3:00 pm I was released and the nurse wheeled me down to the patient pickup door. My husband was there waiting with the car and off we went…

That’s a lot for now. We can talk more later about recovery and treatment. But, if you are struggling, feel free to reach out. You’ve got this!

Thanks for visiting my nest—until next time.