Let me start from the beginning... I went to get a yearly check-up in November 2010. Everything seemed great and nothing out of the ordinary was noticed during my breast exam. Then one day in February, I noticed a lump on my right breast. Not thinking anything, I kept watch of it for a few months. When it didn't change or go away, i figured it was time to call my primary care doctor.
I went to see him during April vacation week. He too felt the lump and sent me off to have a mammogram and ultrasound. My insurance company gave one hell of a fight, saying that i was "too young" to have them cover these procedures. After going back and forth with the ins. co. they finally said OK and i had a date scheduled. After having both done, the results showed that yes there was some sort of "solid" lump. I was then sent to a surgeon to to get a better idea of what it may be.
This takes us to May 9th. The surgeon suggested we do a core needle biopsy. This would take a small sample of tissue and look to see what type of cells the lump was made of. It would be done under local anesthesia (which i freaked out most of the time!). Looking back i probably shouldn't have been as nervous, but what would you do if you were in my position? The results came back a few days later that the sample contained "atypical" cells. The surgeon said that it didn't mean anything, but he wanted to get a bigger tissue sample since the cells weren't "normal". He scheduled a surgical biopsy for June 9th.
The day of the biopsy i was a wreck. This was before i knew that it was OK to ask for anxiety pills! Eventually i was given meds to make me calm and then to sleep. The next thing i knew was that I was in recovery. The recovery for the biopsy was actually easier for me than the core needle.
June 14th is a day i will always remember. This is the day the surgeon called to tell me that the biopsy came back as being infiltrating ductal carcinoma. In other words it was breast cancer. First I cried, then i cried some more, then i cried some more. It took a while, but then i started thinking, this really sucks, but its happening, and i have to to what i can to get rid of it and to get better. I am 29 and this is what gets thrown at me? Come on! Im glad that I found it, and it is not too far along. I am stage 1B, E+ P+. (hormone receptor positive). As a doc in Boston put it, if breast cancer was an ice cream flavor, your type would be vanilla! Thats a good thing i guess!
Let me fast forward through the weeks between June14th and now. These weeks seem like a blur of doctors visits and appointments at the hospital. I have had a MRI, CT scan on my head, chest, abdomen, and pelvis, echocardiogram, as well as getting my blood drawn twice. (Every test result came back great!) I have gone to my oncologist twice, had a 2nd opinion in Boston (which lasted 5 hours) and had a powerport put in my chest. I could not have done any of these things without the help of my amazing "husband" Mike, my good friend Kim, and my mom.
I am going to be getting my treatments with Commonwealth Oncology in Worcester. My treatment plan is chemo once every 14 days for 16 weeks. (4 cycles of Adriamyacin and Cytoxin, then 4 cycles of Taxol). Hopefully that shrinks the tumor. Then surgery to remove what is left, and last 6 weeks of radiation. Then after thats done 5 years on Tamoxifen.
My first cycle of chemo is this Thursday (July 28th). Hopefully it goes as well as can be expected. I will update when i get any news worth sharing!
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