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It’s #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth, so I am going to tell a little story that started one night, almost exactly a year ago. 1/13
I was lying in bed one night and I had an itch on my right breast. When I went to scratch, I felt a hard mass about the size of a tiny pebble. It was something that I had never noticed before, and I was immediately worried. In fact, I was sure it was bad news. 2/13
I called both my sister and my best friend, and told them what I suspected. Both of them were sure I was overreacting, but regardless I needed to get it checked out.
3/13
3/13
When I called to set an appointment for a breast examination, the doctor had no time available for a month and a half. So I called another doctor and another, and everywhere I called was a month or more before I could be seen.
4/13
4/13
I called #PlannedParenthood. A doctor could see me in two weeks for an examination. In the time between the discovery of the mass and my appointment, I found a second much larger, palpable mass.
6/13
6/13
On the day of my appointment, I had to be escorted into #PlannedParenthood because of the protestors outside. Found out I was at the wrong location, I had to be escorted back to my car, and then rush off to the other location.
7/13
7/13
After my examination, I was told, the first mass that I found was likely nothing to worry about. On the other hand, the larger mass likely needed to be biopsied. The doctor gave me a referral to a breast specialist, and gave me his cell # to help give me priority, if needed.
8/13
8/13
A week later, the breast specialist said the same thing after taking an ultrasound: the large mass was suspicious the small one is likely nothing. The large mass was big enough that she could biopsy it in her office, and she could do it right away.
9/13
9/13
Three days later I was diagnosed with HER2/neu+ PR+ breast cancer. What follow was a month and a half of diagnostic imaging and biopsies. The first pebble-like mass that I found, was a satellite from the larger mass.
10/13
10/13
In February, I started chemotherapy: A 4.5 hour infusion of four drugs every 21 days for 6 cycles. After chemotherapy, I opted to have a mastectomy, and pathology on the removed tissue confirmed that I was cancer free.
11/13
11/13
While I am still undergoing immunotherapy and have one more surgery, I have had the best outcome possible. But this wouldn’t have been the outcome had I not caught it early. I am young, I do not have a familial history of cancers, I do not have genetic markers.
12/13
12/13
#BreastCancerAwarenessMonth is about knowing your body well enough that you notice changes and take action. Because if you don’t know, who does?
13/13
13/13
