So how did I find it?

How I got to where I am now... Early May I discovered a bumpy lump in my right breast. I googled what a cancerous lump might feel like... hard, like a rock and bumpy yet immovable. That's what mine felt like but I was not alarmed for many many lumps described on the internet were described as such were normal and or benign.  So I called my OB/GYN and was told that I was about old enough to have a mammogram now - yeah! it's like turning 16 all overagain, I'm of legal age and finally I can date...And finally I can have my boob squished into pancake form - yoohoo!! My mammogram appt was Friday May 21st at St Marks Hospital. Dressed in my school scrubs uniform, I skipped my way into the office and willfully handed over the breast in question. After several mammogram images and an ultrasound I was escorted by a Navigator nurse to the radiologist room where I was told that there was a mass and high mounts of calcification in the lower hemisphere of my breast which was "concerning". Does that mean it's cancer? I asked. It may or may not be is what I was told. The radiologist closed our discussion with "I'm sorry I don't have better news, good luck" and disappeared. I called Dan to immediately come to the hospital. After he heard the news, it seemed a little bit of his life had been sucked from his body. Although the news had't confirmed anything, I felt scared but a peace at the same time. The following Tuesday May 25th I met my surgeon Dr. Naylor and on Wednesday had a biopsy. Late Friday May 28th the pathology report came in and I was diagonsed with breast caner. I had DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ) as well as Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. That evening I knew I was going to have a mastectomy the following week. On Tuesday June 1st I met with my general surgeon and then my plastic surgeon. Surgery was scheduled for Thursday June 3rd. Before surgery I was injected with a radioactive dye that would follow the path of the ducts to the lymph nodes where the sentinel node would be located, removed and tested immediately for cancer. Because that first node test was positive, 19 lymph nodes were removed. 
Related Posts with Thumbnails