My journey started when I turned 39 this year in October 2008. I went for my yearly physical and was so proud that I had scheduled my mammogram for the Saturday before Thanksgiving. My primary care physician had been encouraging me to get a mammogram because when I was 19 or so I had a benign lump removed from my right breast.
I went for my mammogram first thing in the morning on a Saturday. It was so easy, in and out, no big deal! Monday morning at work I received a call from the radiology center telling me that I need to come back for another mammogram. Well, I am a nurse and work with nurses whom have also gone though this process. My apt. was made for the Wed. before Thanksgiving during my lunch hour. My friends that have been through this had me prepared for what to expect so I was pretty calm and ready for what would happen.
It was probably nothing is what I thought. So I went during lunch. The mammogram was pretty much the same just a few extra views. No problem. I sat and waited with the other women for the technician to tell me I can go. I waited and waited. I was prepared by my friend that they may want to get an ultra sound so don't be concerned! I waited and waited and then the technician called me back and told me to get dressed that my primary care doctor wanted to talk to me. What? No on else had this happen and this was not the way my friends said it would be. Stay calm that is what I kept telling myself.
Being an oncology nurse so many things went through my head. But more than that I was thinking about the 20 people that I was having for Thanksgiving the next day and the 8K Turkey Trot that I was going to run in support of Multiple Sclerosis. You see I have MS. I was diagnosed 7 years ago. Doing great, running, competing in a triathlon and 2 races since Sept. that year! This can't be happening I am in the best shape of my life!
So I changed and returned to the waiting room dressed and ready for the "news". The technician called me back and said my doctor could not wait and would talk to me later. I had the look of shock on my face I am thinking it looked like "you have got to be kidding me!" I asked the tech. can you at least tell me what they are thinking. She knew I was a nurse and that I had so much going on the next day. So she said, well they found a cluster of micro calcifications and I will need to get it biopsied. She said 90% of these are nothing! Then she hugged me and said a prayer and cried. I thought I am so screwed!
Off I went to work and tried to stay composed!
Thanksgiving went well, better than I thought.
Then on Dec. 3rd I went for my biopsy. It was a mammatome (vacuum assisted biopsy). I laid on a table with holes in it for my breasts. They put a mammogram machine on my breast and looked for the right place to get the tissue sample. The complicated thing with micro calcification's is that they are just cells, there is no lump or mass. So the biopsy is like liposuction of the breast. Being a small breasted women that was not the place I needed liposuction. They numbed the area and I felt some pressure but nothing too bad. At the end they put a marker in there so they would know where the sample was taken from. They put pressure on my breast, taped me up and off I went. I was going to go back to work but after the drive home I could feel it swelling a bit and a little discomfort. Nothing too bad but I thought I better work from home. This was a good choice. There is some tenderness associated with this biopsy process and like in my case swelling and I had a hematoma form inside my breast (this hematoma can take up to 6 months to go away). This is all normal.
I did go to work the next day. The only challenging thing was getting a shirt over my head and lifting my arm. But I got through it. Everyone at work was so excited because the Christmas party was the next day. I was pretty bummed that I would not be going. I had so much fun at the past parties, dancing the night away! But what are you going to do, right! Plus with one boob twice the size of the other I don't think I could do much with that. It was the start of realizing that there are going to be some things over the next couple of months that I will not be able to do. So I will find other ways to occupy my time.
That Monday I got a call at work from the surgeon. It was cancer. DCIS - Ductal Carcinoma In-Situ. This is "the best kind of cancer you can get" "it is very curable" this is what I was told. In shock I called my mom and we just didn't know what to say to each other. My husband was going to be traveling the next day on business. What would I say to him and my daughters. I cried a few tears with my friends at work and just gathered my self and made a decision then and there that I have to rely on my faith and be strong.
My husband was not sure how to react to me when I got home. I just said well, I wont need chemotherapy because it is not invasive so that is such a blessing!
Then the roller coaster began! That next day my mom and I met with the surgeon to review the results and what my choices were. One, lumpectomy and 6 weeks of radiation therapy or mastectomy. With my MS in the back ground I was immediately leaning towards mastectomy!
That Thursday I had a breast MRI to see if there was cancer in the other breast. Fortunately there was no additional cancer.
So now to figure out the plan. I scheduled an apt. with my neurologist and contacted an oncologist that I have known for 15 years and worked for. I also called the radiation oncology group I know and talked to the tech. there to get their opinion on my treatment options, come to find out that they do not take my insurance. They recommended that I go to UNC and meet with the rad. onc folks up there. I let my surgeon know I was going to meet with the folks at uNC rad onc and he told me he would send them an email to give them a heads up!
So the Neurologist did not have much to add with regards to my MS, no info. on the Internet, I even contacted the MS Society and no luck. No info. regarding breast cancer in people with MS on interferon treatments. UGH!
So just when I was thinking I am just going to have to decide with what I know about cancer, myself and my MS! I was getting ready to call the surgeon and just say I am going with a mastectomy when I got a call on the Monday before New Years Eve from UNC cancer center. The were letting me know that everything was set for Wed. New Years Eve for my visit and this gal was the nurse navigator assigned to my case. She said they were presenting me that day at the breast cancer multidisciplinary clinic! Me, being presented! Having worked in oncology at UNC hospital for 5 years and then at a UNC out patient clinic I knew many of the doctors and nurses that would be present!
So on new years eve, me, my mom, my dad and my husband took a trip out to UNC for the day. A long day at that! They did more mammograms, and an ultrasound. The pathologist re reviewed my slides and found that the cancer was indeed invasive. It was a small invasion but still it has gotten out of the ducts. They also found another spot on my right breast! What more could happen! So after leaving there that day the decision was made to have a bilateral mastectomy! Finally a decision was made!
Although I found out some scary information at this meeting I was so blessed that I was presented this day! So now we are scheduled the biopsy of the right breast, I know why do that if you are just going to remove the breast. Well if there was cancer they would need to know so during the surgery the lymph nodes could be biopsied. In ductal breast cancer the ducts lead to certain lymph nodes when you have invasive cancer they inject a dye through the duct where the cancer is and find out which lymph node that duct leads to. This will be called the Sentinel node and will be the lymph node they check for cancer. Once you remove the breast you loose the ability to trace back where this duct drained as all of the ducts will be removed.
So this week, Jan. 12th, back to UNC for the biopsy and right away they knew the spot was not cancer! Can I get an AMEN! Finally some GREAT news! So how did they know it wasn't cancer? They went over my breast with the ultra sound machine to find the mass. See, the difference is in the left breast I had micro calcification's (basically cells that are not visible by the eye only when magnified like they are able to do with mammography) and in the right breast there was actually a mass just behind my nipple. So the radiologist marked the spot and told me he was going to first try to do a needle aspiration. So he numbed the area and stuck a needle into the mass and because it was fluid filled it deflated when he aspirated the fluid! A CYST!!! Yippeee! Back to work I went just smiling ear to ear. You have to celebrate the small stuff when you are dealing with such life changes.
What next? Well I meet with my surgeon on the 21st for pre op stuff and I am scheduled on the 30th for a bilateral mastectomy.
I am pooped for right now but will write later about what the procedure entails!
I hope you will join me in this journey! I am hoping to have pictures, tasteful of course to share with you so you can see what this is all about. I would love to hear from you! I believe you can comment at the bottom and on the right you can follow this blog. You will probably have to register, it is free. I am also hoping to be able to keep my friends and family up to date with what is going on using this method much easier!
I went for my mammogram first thing in the morning on a Saturday. It was so easy, in and out, no big deal! Monday morning at work I received a call from the radiology center telling me that I need to come back for another mammogram. Well, I am a nurse and work with nurses whom have also gone though this process. My apt. was made for the Wed. before Thanksgiving during my lunch hour. My friends that have been through this had me prepared for what to expect so I was pretty calm and ready for what would happen.
It was probably nothing is what I thought. So I went during lunch. The mammogram was pretty much the same just a few extra views. No problem. I sat and waited with the other women for the technician to tell me I can go. I waited and waited. I was prepared by my friend that they may want to get an ultra sound so don't be concerned! I waited and waited and then the technician called me back and told me to get dressed that my primary care doctor wanted to talk to me. What? No on else had this happen and this was not the way my friends said it would be. Stay calm that is what I kept telling myself.
Being an oncology nurse so many things went through my head. But more than that I was thinking about the 20 people that I was having for Thanksgiving the next day and the 8K Turkey Trot that I was going to run in support of Multiple Sclerosis. You see I have MS. I was diagnosed 7 years ago. Doing great, running, competing in a triathlon and 2 races since Sept. that year! This can't be happening I am in the best shape of my life!
So I changed and returned to the waiting room dressed and ready for the "news". The technician called me back and said my doctor could not wait and would talk to me later. I had the look of shock on my face I am thinking it looked like "you have got to be kidding me!" I asked the tech. can you at least tell me what they are thinking. She knew I was a nurse and that I had so much going on the next day. So she said, well they found a cluster of micro calcifications and I will need to get it biopsied. She said 90% of these are nothing! Then she hugged me and said a prayer and cried. I thought I am so screwed!
Off I went to work and tried to stay composed!
Thanksgiving went well, better than I thought.
Then on Dec. 3rd I went for my biopsy. It was a mammatome (vacuum assisted biopsy). I laid on a table with holes in it for my breasts. They put a mammogram machine on my breast and looked for the right place to get the tissue sample. The complicated thing with micro calcification's is that they are just cells, there is no lump or mass. So the biopsy is like liposuction of the breast. Being a small breasted women that was not the place I needed liposuction. They numbed the area and I felt some pressure but nothing too bad. At the end they put a marker in there so they would know where the sample was taken from. They put pressure on my breast, taped me up and off I went. I was going to go back to work but after the drive home I could feel it swelling a bit and a little discomfort. Nothing too bad but I thought I better work from home. This was a good choice. There is some tenderness associated with this biopsy process and like in my case swelling and I had a hematoma form inside my breast (this hematoma can take up to 6 months to go away). This is all normal.
I did go to work the next day. The only challenging thing was getting a shirt over my head and lifting my arm. But I got through it. Everyone at work was so excited because the Christmas party was the next day. I was pretty bummed that I would not be going. I had so much fun at the past parties, dancing the night away! But what are you going to do, right! Plus with one boob twice the size of the other I don't think I could do much with that. It was the start of realizing that there are going to be some things over the next couple of months that I will not be able to do. So I will find other ways to occupy my time.
That Monday I got a call at work from the surgeon. It was cancer. DCIS - Ductal Carcinoma In-Situ. This is "the best kind of cancer you can get" "it is very curable" this is what I was told. In shock I called my mom and we just didn't know what to say to each other. My husband was going to be traveling the next day on business. What would I say to him and my daughters. I cried a few tears with my friends at work and just gathered my self and made a decision then and there that I have to rely on my faith and be strong.
My husband was not sure how to react to me when I got home. I just said well, I wont need chemotherapy because it is not invasive so that is such a blessing!
Then the roller coaster began! That next day my mom and I met with the surgeon to review the results and what my choices were. One, lumpectomy and 6 weeks of radiation therapy or mastectomy. With my MS in the back ground I was immediately leaning towards mastectomy!
That Thursday I had a breast MRI to see if there was cancer in the other breast. Fortunately there was no additional cancer.
So now to figure out the plan. I scheduled an apt. with my neurologist and contacted an oncologist that I have known for 15 years and worked for. I also called the radiation oncology group I know and talked to the tech. there to get their opinion on my treatment options, come to find out that they do not take my insurance. They recommended that I go to UNC and meet with the rad. onc folks up there. I let my surgeon know I was going to meet with the folks at uNC rad onc and he told me he would send them an email to give them a heads up!
So the Neurologist did not have much to add with regards to my MS, no info. on the Internet, I even contacted the MS Society and no luck. No info. regarding breast cancer in people with MS on interferon treatments. UGH!
So just when I was thinking I am just going to have to decide with what I know about cancer, myself and my MS! I was getting ready to call the surgeon and just say I am going with a mastectomy when I got a call on the Monday before New Years Eve from UNC cancer center. The were letting me know that everything was set for Wed. New Years Eve for my visit and this gal was the nurse navigator assigned to my case. She said they were presenting me that day at the breast cancer multidisciplinary clinic! Me, being presented! Having worked in oncology at UNC hospital for 5 years and then at a UNC out patient clinic I knew many of the doctors and nurses that would be present!
So on new years eve, me, my mom, my dad and my husband took a trip out to UNC for the day. A long day at that! They did more mammograms, and an ultrasound. The pathologist re reviewed my slides and found that the cancer was indeed invasive. It was a small invasion but still it has gotten out of the ducts. They also found another spot on my right breast! What more could happen! So after leaving there that day the decision was made to have a bilateral mastectomy! Finally a decision was made!
Although I found out some scary information at this meeting I was so blessed that I was presented this day! So now we are scheduled the biopsy of the right breast, I know why do that if you are just going to remove the breast. Well if there was cancer they would need to know so during the surgery the lymph nodes could be biopsied. In ductal breast cancer the ducts lead to certain lymph nodes when you have invasive cancer they inject a dye through the duct where the cancer is and find out which lymph node that duct leads to. This will be called the Sentinel node and will be the lymph node they check for cancer. Once you remove the breast you loose the ability to trace back where this duct drained as all of the ducts will be removed.
So this week, Jan. 12th, back to UNC for the biopsy and right away they knew the spot was not cancer! Can I get an AMEN! Finally some GREAT news! So how did they know it wasn't cancer? They went over my breast with the ultra sound machine to find the mass. See, the difference is in the left breast I had micro calcification's (basically cells that are not visible by the eye only when magnified like they are able to do with mammography) and in the right breast there was actually a mass just behind my nipple. So the radiologist marked the spot and told me he was going to first try to do a needle aspiration. So he numbed the area and stuck a needle into the mass and because it was fluid filled it deflated when he aspirated the fluid! A CYST!!! Yippeee! Back to work I went just smiling ear to ear. You have to celebrate the small stuff when you are dealing with such life changes.
What next? Well I meet with my surgeon on the 21st for pre op stuff and I am scheduled on the 30th for a bilateral mastectomy.
I am pooped for right now but will write later about what the procedure entails!
I hope you will join me in this journey! I am hoping to have pictures, tasteful of course to share with you so you can see what this is all about. I would love to hear from you! I believe you can comment at the bottom and on the right you can follow this blog. You will probably have to register, it is free. I am also hoping to be able to keep my friends and family up to date with what is going on using this method much easier!
I will end by saying that I am a Christian so much of my bloging will reflect my faith in God which has helped me tremendously in getting through this whole process. Below is a verse that has just come up so many times during the beginning of my journey. I say to folks that the Lord has given me a peace that is unexplainable and this verse explains this very well. I even saw this one time with my daughter in the car on a license plate. We looked it up right away and just could not believe it!!!
Philippians 4: 6-9
6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Until next time...... Debbie
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