Does breast cancer run in your family? This is a very important question. Breast cancer runs in my family. My mom had precancerous cells when she was 47, and I have 3 aunts that had it. I have been getting screened since age 30 and by screened I mean mammograms. One year my mammogram showed something suspicious so I started on an MRI/mammogram six-month rotation. Thankfully everything remained clear, so I eventually returned to the annual mammogram schedule.
When I was 46, during a routine annual at the obgyn’s office, my doctor felt a lump in my breast. He recommended a diagnostic mammogram, which is a mammogram paired with an ultrasound. I had always been told that I had dense breast tissue which makes it difficult to see much on a mammogram. They found that the mass was likely a benign cyst, however, the ultrasound also found a suspicious fibrocystic area that needed to be biopsied. The biopsy revealed DCIS, Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, which is when cancer cells grow out of control within the milk duct cells. Keep in mind the mammogram showed absolutely nothing. Had I only relied on that, my cancer would have grown for another year before they would have seen it on the mammogram. By then I may have been in stage 1 or 2. When they found it, it was still stage 0, meaning that it hadn’t yet breached the cellular wall. My doc ordered a lumpectomy to see if they could isolate the area and obtain clean margins (a sample that has no cancer along the edge) on the sample, hoping that would remove it. Unfortunately, they still weren’t able to get clean margins, so instead of opting to keep cutting away pieces of my breast, I opted for a double mastectomy. My cancer was only in one breast, but with all of my family history and now this, I didn’t want to risk missing any.
The next step was to meet with radiology and oncology. Had my lymph nodes been affected, I would have needed radiation. I was fortunate that it hadn’t spread to those yet. We then scheduled my double mastectomy.I cried a lot during the whole process. It was already a really hard year, and this was just one more thing. One super scary thing. But I was immensely grateful that all of my screenings had me on high alert, so when it was found, it was super treatable and the prognosis was great. I think my family was super nervous. No one wants to hear the “C” word. It was not a club I wanted to join but God had other plans, and honestly with everything going on, I was in survival mode.
I had my mastectomy in September of 2023. They inserted spacers that they would slowly fill to make new pockets for implants/reconstruction. After 5 months, the pockets were at a size that I was comfortable with so I went ahead with surgery. Breast reconstruction consists of removing the spacers and replacing them with silicon implants. About 6 months after the big surgery I started to feel like myself again.
None of this really hit me until a year later when I was cleaning up my room and found a bag of hospital things. I was going through it and throwing things away, saving things that I may be able to bless another club member with one day. They gave me a pink beaded necklace, think Mardi Gras (lol show your boobs), for me to pin to my drains when I showered. Two drains came out of both sides of my ribs. Since they can’t hang, you wear the necklace and pin them while you wash. Before COVID and the last few years of stressful times, I was a pretty avid runner. I have a plaque on my wall with hooks that says “She believed she could, so she did.” I hung all of my race medals on it. As I was staring at my medals, as I cleaned up my bag, I grabbed that necklace and hung it with my medals. And that’s when I lost it. It was a race I won. A race I didn’t want to run but did. And I came through. Sometimes when you’re in survival mode, it doesn’t hit you right away. I’m so proud of how strong I was and how I took everything in stride.
Once the cancer was gone, the only other thing to do was oral chemo, which I currently take daily and will take for the next 5 years to prevent cancer cells from spreading to other parts of my body. Now I see my oncologist every 6 months to do a quick screen to make sure nothing is growing back and to review my meds. Early detection was a blessing. Not that major surgery is easy, but it was much easier than chemo and radiation.
My biggest piece of advice to women is do not wait until you’re 40 to get screened. Women are being diagnosed younger and younger, and if you wait, it may be too late, or treatment will be more involved. Also, make sure you insist on an ultrasound. The ultrasound is what saved my life. The mammogram showed nothing. A little context, (this is how my doc explained it) cancer shows up as a white spot on a mammogram. When you have dense breast tissue, it looks like a snowstorm on a mammogram. So imagine trying to find a cancerous white spot, amongst a sea of white spots. Impossible. Dense breasts are also a risk factor for breast cancer, and 50% of women have dense breast tissue. Trust your gut and do self-exams. Advocate for yourself even if your doctor gives you a hard time about early screening. My other big piece of advice is to find a good and solid support system. My mental health was strong during the cancer process because I had an amazing support system: my husband, mom, dad, in-law, and my kids. My amazing community of friends and neighbors also stepped in to support me. I just took my time adjusting to the diagnosis and surgery. It was also a little bumpy. Sort of like the stages of grief. Denial, anger, acceptance. I was up. I was down. I stood in my kitchen and cried. I hugged my kids. So I guess the dumpster fire that God was throwing my way, sort of helped strengthen me mentally and prepare me for this fight. Maybe it was all for a reason. I am so thankful to be in remission today!
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