October is breast cancer awareness month. Earlier this week Christina wrote a great post about how to do self breast exams. I decided to share my personal experience with you in hope that it will inspire each of you to be breast aware and be mindful of your bodies.
In 2005 my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. I was living over seas at the time and it was very scary. Before going into surgery she promised to call me as soon as she was done and awake. I didn’t get a call until three days later. When they went in to remove the tumor they discovered it was much bigger than they originally thought and it had attached to her rib cage. They also found the cancer in her lymph nodes. Being stage four breast cancer resulted in the surgery being more complicated than the doctors had originally hoped and things were not looking good for my mom. She began intense chemo therapy for six months and then began radiation therapy for another six months after that. After a year the doctors detected another tumor in her breasts and at that time she got a bilateral mastectomy.
After another round of radiation (she had maxed out on chemo already) she was finally cancer free. I feel very blessed to say that my mom is a cancer survivor. She has now been cancer free since 2006. She currently teaches high school math full time in California and has more energy than most six year old boys, she makes the rest of us look bad.
Ever since my mom got breast cancer I have made a concentrated effort to be breast aware. In 2009 I was doing a monthly self breast exam (which I highly recommend whether or not anyone in your family has suffered through breast cancer). It was at that time that I discovered I had a lump in my breast. I was very concerned. It’s a scary thing to find when my mom’s experience was still so fresh in my mind. I immediately scheduled a doctor’s appointment with my regular doctor.
My doctor confirmed that there was definitely a lump in my breast and he referred me to a breast specialist. The breast specialist conducted an ultrasound to get a better look at it. He informed me that I had no reason to worry because it was perfectly symmetrical. When it is cancer it grows in weird shapes. Just to be sure though he wanted me back in six months to take another look at it.
I went back in six months and while the shape had remained the same, the actual lump had grown. He wanted me back in another six months to check the growth. He assured me that lumps such as this (also known as fibroids) will eventually stop growing. I went back six months later and it had grown some more. My doctor suggested removing the lump because of my mom’s background and I agreed to have the lump removed. It was an easy procedure and I was very happy with my surgeon. As hoped, the lump was benign and all was well.
My mom’s cancer was detected in her yearly mammogram and my lump was detected in my self breast exam. Both my mom and I made the decision to be breast aware and then did something about it. Not every lump is cancer, but unless you’re actively aware and checking in on them, you won’t know. So please be aware and please be proactive in early detection.
For more information on breast cancer, visit the Susan G. Komen website.
