A year ago last April, my husband and I vacationed with close friends. Upon leaving one friend gave me a bear hug and my only response was "Ouch!" When we returned home, I did a self exam including lifting my arms in the mirror. To my surprise there were two creases in my right breast I had never seen before. I scheduled a visit with my gynecologist referring to a possible lump as the tissue seemed denser than the other breast. He immediately sent me for a mammogram which showed suspicious looking tissue, nothing specific.
Seeral biopsies later, further tests, it was determined that I had I had invasive interductal cancer stage 2.
On july 3, 2013 I elected to have a double mastectomy with reconstruction performed at the same time.
My port became infected and had to be removed. The expander on the elective side became infected, and of course removed.
I underwent several rounds of chemo and 15 weeks of radiation. To my dismay the tissue on the cancer breast began to die so that expander also had to be removed.
I am at a crossroad about reconstruction. All the expanded tissue is still there and could easily be reconstructed. The opposite site, however, I have only the option of a latissimus dorsi flap. I am putting off making this decision until I hear back from some women who have had this procedure and are happy with the results.
I feel extremely fortunate to have had that hug. I had an extremely aggressive cancer and had it not hurt I would have waited until August for my routine exam. My oncologist told my husband and I it may have been too late. Whoever said cancer doesn't hurt was wrong!!
Delta, CO