Share your story of Diagnosis and Treatment

tunkylala

I could not find this topic when I searched and I think that young BC survivors need to tell their story. Here is mine and please share yours!

Feb. 14th (yes Valentine's) I was reading a book in bed. I had an itchy sensation just above my areola (felt like a mosquito bit me). I nonchalantly scratched the surface of my skin and felt a very small lump. I asked my husband to feel it and he confirmed it was infact a lump and not a bite. I freaked out to say the least. There is no family history of BC, mind you, but my older sis was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer at 38. I just turned 36 in Jan. My recent colonoscopy was clear, but cancer is still in my mind.

Rewind 3 weeks prior. My husband was on a business trip and I was home alone with my dogs. My little female Chihuahua loves to snuggle with me. She happend to be in my arms close to my chest. She started to sniff my cleavage area and began scratching my skin. I thought that maybe a crumb had fallen on my skin and she smelled it. I felt the area and thought I could feel a lump, but further inspection proved nothing. So, I passed it off as her just being needy. So 3 weeks later when I found the lump, I cried all night thinking that this might be cancer and my little dog actually sniffed it out.

I went to my GYN the next morn and she confirmed it was a lump and that I needed a mammo and ultrasound. Please note: the lump was small, round and smooth. The following week I had a mammo and ultra. The radiologist came into the room after the procedure to talk with me. He looked straight at me and said, you have nothing to worry about. This is most likely a Fibroademona. He said this happend a lot in women my age and not to worry. He showed me the images and explained all of the reasons why he was convinced it was benign. To ease my mind, he suggested a needle biopsy to be 100% sure. He said I could leave it and it would dissove in 5 years or so. He was not adamant about the biopsy, I could have walked out that day and done nothing.

I insisted on having an exisional biopsy instead of a needle. He said sure and I left. I made an appt the next week with a breast surgeon and she read the radiologists report and said close to the same thing. She did, however, agree that if it made me feel better that removing the "fibroadenoma" would be best. She knew I was loosing sleep over this little lump.

4 weeks later I had the surgery to remove the "fibroadenoma". The surgery went well and I recovered quickly.

4 days after the surgery I recieved a personal phone call from my surgeon(note: when your surgeon calls you and leaves her cell phone number, its probably bad news). I will remember that day for the rest of my life. She proceeded to tell me that they found cancer cells with in the tumor and it was not a fibroadenoma. It was invasive ductal carcinoma. She also praised my instinct to have it removed and told me that this was fixable. The tumor did not follow any of the typical markers that BC usually does. Further meetings with my surgeon and my oncologists concluded that I had til june to decide what route I wanted to take. June? Really? Wow.

I decided on a lumpactomy (clear margins), sentinal node biopsy (which staged me at stage 1), radiation and tamoxifen. I did not have to do chemo because my Oncotype DX was a 2.

Lesson that I learned and want to pass on to other women, follow your gut instinct. If something does not feel right there is a possibility that it is not right. You know your body best. I am a fit and healthy 36 year old woman. I have no family history of BC. I have eaten well (no trans fats, organic meats, lots of veggies) my entire life. I take my vitamins for goodness sake and I have worn "natural" aluminum free deoderant (LOL) for over 20 years. I still got breast cancer because cancer does not descriminate. And yes, I wear real deoderant now because the natural stuff really does not work..

meme31

bump

cazza

Hi There

 Here's my story

In 2005. I can't remember the exact date I was scratching my chest and found a small painful lump. Straight away I thought something was wrong so went to the doctor.

The first doctor said you are young and it shouldn't be cancer especially since it's painful. I pushed to get tests and they did an ultrasound an mammogram which showed the lump. Over the next few weeks I had a number of ultrasounds and was finally diagnosed following a needle biopsy.

It was my gut instinct to push further and low and behold it was IDC triple negative.

I had a mastectomy with a tissue expander so that i could have resconstructive surgery. The lump was less than 1cm with clear margins and no node involvement which put me stage 1.

I had 6 rounds of chemo - horrible stuff.

I now have a full head of hair of course it's a number of years later and I have passed the 6 year mark.