It was the call I didn’t want to receive. My doctor stated “I am in shock Lisa but you do in fact have breast cancer.” I received that call on July 16, 2014. I am 42 years old.
Earlier in May 2014 I went in for an annual female exam with my primary doctor. She ordered a mammogram just like she would for any woman over the age of 40. I felt no lump at all. I had my first one on that Monday. I received a call later that day saying that they found something suspicious and wanted to do another. I informed them that I was scheduled to have rotator cuff surgery on that Thursday so if they wanted to do it, it had to be before then. They performed a second mammogram on Wednesday of that same week. I went in for my rotator cuff surgery and came home in pain and in a sling. On Friday I received a call that my doctor was referring me to a surgeon for a biopsy. I met the surgeon the following week. He saw I was in the sling and knew that a biopsy could not be done until I was out of the sling which would be 6 weeks. He really felt that it was just calcifications and I really had nothing to worry about. I went home feeling relieved and made it through the next 6 weeks feeling very little stress. Once the sling came off my surgeon did the biopsy. Three days later I received the devastating news. Since then I have had to make some big decisions. I have chosen to have a double mastectomy with reconstruction. I had my first breast removed on August 8th. At this time they performed pathology and found it was stage 2B cancer. It had spread to my first lymph node but no further.
Like I said before I did NOT feel a lump. This totally took me by surprise. October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. Please be proactive and have your mammograms done!
Canton, OH
