Wait, you have cancer?!

Yes, I do.


I hope that I got to most of you to let you know individually about my diagnosis.  For those of you that are hearing this for the first time, I figured that it would be helpful to hear a back-story about my diagnosis


I did sporadic self-exams in the past and I found a lump in my left breast in November 2013 that I went to the gynecologist to get checked out.  They were not too concerned because young women having dense, fibrous breasts is very common.  Most commonly, it is a fibroid (fatty tissue) that goes away.They sent me that day to get an ultrasound, just to make sure.  The radiologist that did my breast ultrasound ended up telling me that she did not see anything unusual and that it was just "abundant glandular tissue."  Basically, fatty tissue.  What a positive way to phrase that! She told me that it was normal and to just come back if it got any bigger or changed a lot. No biggie.


Fast forward to a few months later, May 2014.  I am realizing that the lump is starting to hurt a little bit and it is all the time, not just during my period. And, in fact, I realized that it actually IS bigger than it was in November.  However, I am not an alarmist, so I make an appointment with my new gynecologist at West Penn Hospital and think it is probably just that fatty tissue.  Again, the gynecologist is not too concerned, but she wants me to get an ultrasound again, and she wants me to get a mammogram this time. Perfect.  Fine. Scheduled for later that week.


Wednesday morning in June, I am thinking that I will do a few quick tests and be back to work by lunchtime.  They did the mammograms of both of my breasts.  Things seem to be going fine. However, they were not fine, because the radiologist comes in the room, sits down, and explains to me that she is VERY concerned about what she is seeing on the mammogram.  Apparently, she saw quite a bit of calcification, which can be a red flag to cancer.  She wanted to do a biopsy of my breast that morning.  This was heavy news to hear.  I was not expecting it.  I got emotional, obviously, and they asked me if I wanted to call someone to come be with me.  Since we weren't expecting anything like this to happen, Craig was actually out of town for the morning preparing our new apartment in Edinboro.  So I called my sister, Natalie, who lived a few minutes from the hospital and made herself free to be with me.  It was really wonderful to have her there since Craig could not be there right away.


So, basically, the rest of the morning they assigned a nurse, Barb, to "babysit" me. Barb was awesome.  She and her counterpart, Jane, had me laughing so hard that my face hurt.  They also were very gentle with me and explained each step of the procedure to me as it was happening.  In fact, Barb sat behind me during the biopsy, held my hand the whole time, and explained what was happening.  I felt so blessed to have these great West Penn nurses with me that day.  I could tell that it was serious that day because their words of comfort were not, "It's probably nothing!"  They were, "There are great treatments for breast cancer." And, "There still is a small chance that it is nothing!"

We had two terrible days of waiting for the results of the biopsy and then Craig and I got the call that it was cancerous.  So, here's the deal.  It is a very treatable cancer, from what they can tell.  It is a localized form of cancer called DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ).  To be honest, this is the best type of cancer to have.  From what they can tell, it is slow growing and only localized to the milk ducts in my breast.  It has not broken through the ducts and become invasive, from what they can tell.  Due to how extensive it is throughout my breast, I will need to have a mastectomy.  To be real, this sucks.  A mastectomy is not something that I wanted at age 27, before I have had my children. But we are hopeful that the mastectomy will be the worst of it.  And I will have reconstructive surgery.  When they do the mastectomy next month, August 2014, they will be testing my lymph nodes and the rest of my breast tissue to check for cancer.  We and the doctors feel hopeful that it is not the case, since my first biopsy came back as "not invasive," but it could happen. If that is the case that the cancer is more than what we think it is, we will be looking at the possibility of other treatments, like chemotherapy, radiation, and hormone therapy.  If it is just the DCIS that we think it is, the mastectomy should pretty much take care of it, with the possibility of hormone therapy after (taking a daily pill for 5 years).

Why did I get breast cancer at 27?  I don't know.  It does not seem to run in my family.  The only family member that has had breast cancer is my maternal grandmother who had it post-menopause.  Also, I like to think of myself as a healthy and active girl.  It seems to be one of those fluke things that just happened.  However, in order to rule out any genetic component, I had genetic testing done (still waiting for the results!) to see if I have one of those mutated 'breast cancer genes' (BRCA-1 or BRCA-2).

So that is the story.  The next step is a few more tests and doctors appointments before my mastectomy and reconstructive surgery.  Then, we will take it from there!  Craig and I feel incredibly supported.  Friends and family have rallied around us to support in whatever way they can.  Just so everyone knows, I do not mind if people know that I have cancer, and I am generally fine to talk about it.  Most of the time we feel like our normal selves, and sometimes we get tired or irritable or scared.  I pray for strength and peace for us everyday.  And I feel God's presence behind and before us.  Mostly, I feel it through the love and support of our dearest friends and family.  Thank you, if you are one of those people!