10/10/2021
October is Breast Cancer Awareness month! This month I am doing a fundraiser for a local breast cancer survivor. Proceeds will be going toward her medical bills, gas needed to go to & from necessary appointments, and any other expense that comes with this diagnosis. She wanted to share her story:
My story started 2 years ago with a routine mammogram. The nurse came back before I left and said , "We want to do some images through ultrasound of your left breast." I stayed in order to get that done. I received a phone call the next day asking if I could schedule to come back for another ultrasound. "Of course I can." Meanwhile this sounds the alarms, so to speak. A week or so later it was time for the ultrasound. I was told there were 3 different places that were found to be cysts. They would continue to watch these cysts every 6 months as needed. Luckily, the cysts had only grown in size at 1 appointment.
In April 2021, I went in for a routine mammogram again. "We will call if anything changes. If not you will receive a letter by mail." Within 2 hours of my appointment, I received a phone call from my doctor stating that I needed a repeat mammogram. "We have found some calcifications in your right breast." I went numb. She told me not to worry. After my mammogram I was recommended for a biopsy. This is when I started to worry. It took a while to get in for the biopsy but on May 17, 2021 I was able to have it done. I was still thinking to myself, "These are just calcium deposits, nothing to be worried about."
My doctor told me I should hear back from the lab in 2-3 days but this was not the case. The next evening around 6 I received a phone call from my doctor. My results were back and my diagnosis was DCIS INSITU Breast Cancer. I didn't just have it in 1 area, but 2. She explained what this means, the different options I have available, and answered any questions I had at that time. "Why me!!!" Is all I can think.
Now I had to break the news to my family and those were some of the hardest words I have ever had to say. I had more appointments, MRIs, and blood work to prepare for whichever procedure I decide to have. My final decision was to have a double mastectomy. This gave me the best chance for the cancer to not come back, 98% chance to be exact. I had my surgery July 8, 2021. Biopsies and lymph nodes were taken and tested to determine if the cancer was in fact removed. 4 days later I received the best phone call! "The lymph nodes that were taken tested NEGATIVE! You are CANCER FREE!"