|
I found my cancer by accident. I was starting my mammograms a little early, at 35, because I was high risk—my mother had breast cancer. I normally had them done in October, but in October of 1996 I was too busy to get one done. That following May, I just happened to be in bed, rubbing this crick in my neck, and as I brought my hand back down, I found a lump.
I went to the doctor right away for that mammogram. The lump I’d found was originally in my left breast, but the doctors didn’t seem too concerned about that. But they found a small – so tiny I could barely see it – lump on the X-ray, and they made me get that checked out. I was concerned about the lump I’d found, but they didn’t think it was a big deal, so I thought, who am I to question that? They’re the doctors, the ones with all the knowledge….
I went back in to get the tiny lump examined, but it was gone. They told me I could have a needle biopsy on the other lump I’d found. They thought it was a cyst, but it turned out it had gotten bigger since the last checkup. They really felt like it was just a cyst, and that it would go away. It didn’t. This time, I insisted on a biopsy.
I asked a lot of questions about how this would work. They told me that if it was a cyst, the fluid would drain out and that would be that. But on the third try, when nothing came out, I kind of knew it wasn’t a good sign. My family doctor got the results back and they were inconclusive, so they sent me to a surgeon. I kind of already knew that I had a problem, I just wasn’t really ready to commit to it 100%, I guess. The surgeon told me the lump was cancerous and he set me up with an oncologist.
The day I left the surgeon’s office, I went home and just cried uncontrollably all day long. And when I was done crying I was just like, “Okay. This is not an option for me.” I couldn’t let my six-year-old son see me like that. Dying was not an option. And after I made that decision, well, I just had to be positive. I had a lot of friends and a lot of family to help me. If you think bad things, then bad things could possibly happen. You just don’t want to even think it. And that’s hard. But you really have to be positive.
Things started moving really fast. I’d say it was probably a 50-day time period between the time I found the lump and my first chemo treatment. My oncologist sat me down and explained the different drugs and drug combinations available and how he would put together a combination based on the route I chose to follow. I chose to do chemo, surgery, and radiation, and it worked out really well for me.
After the first treatment, I was doing pretty good. But after the second treatment, I caught the flu. Chemo lowers your whole immune system and I had gone to pick up my son at school during immunizations, so I might have gotten it from there. After that, it was kind of downhill. Chemo’s not a fun thing. But I got through that and the surgery. I had my surgery right before my 40th birthday and found out that all the tests had come back clean. It was a GREAT birthday.
My message would be to stay positive and be your own advocate. You know your body better than anyone else and a degree does not make someone a Know All End All. Take care of you!!!!!!!!!
- Debbie
|