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In my own mind, I became a
breast cancer survivor the moment I received my
diagnosis. It all began so innocently! I
scheduled myself with my gynecologist for my routine
annual exam and was pronounced in fine health. He
recommended, as he always does, that I have a mammogram
so I scheduled myself for one the next week.
To my shock, a week after the mammogram I received a
letter in the mail telling me that an abnormality had
been detected in my x-ray and that I needed to contact
my doctor at once. I did so, and he seemed
surprised that anything had been detected. He said
that he had not been able to feel anything during my
exam. He recommended a surgeon for me to see, and
within a week I was in his office. He studied my
x-ray and did a very thorough breast exam. He knew
where he was looking and what he was looking for, but he
was unable to detect by touch any hint of an
abnormality. But there it was, plain as day on my
mammogram.
He scheduled me for a breast biopsy and 2 days later I
had my diagnosis. I had cancer, and it was in very
early stage, he said stage 0. Due to the nature of
my cancer, a lumpectomy was not an option for me.
The calcifications covered a large portion of my right
breast tissue, and in order to remove all the cancer
cells, a mastectomy would have to be done. I could
not believe my ears. I was only 43! I had a
mammogram only a year and a half before and there was
nothing there at all, and now I was having a mastectomy!
I chose to have an immediate breast reconstruction
procedure, so I had to see another surgeon -- a plastic
surgeon. So it was done. On August 13, 2002,
I had my right breast removed and had a TRAM flap
reconstruction. It was a tough few days there, and
I wondered for a short time if I had made a mistake --
having 2 major surgeries at once was very difficult.
But after those first few days I was very glad I had
both done at the same time.
My pathology report was excellent, the cancer had not
spread outside the breast tissue, the lymph nodes were
clear. My oncologist recommended no further
treatments. No chemotherapy, no radiation therapy,
no tamoxifen, nothing. All I had to do was recover
from my surgery and pick up my life where I left off.
What blessing! It is now 5 weeks from surgery and
I am doing well. My body is still sore, my
incisions are not healed completely, but are very much
on the way. The TRAM left my abdomen much flatter
and tighter, and my new breast is still quite swollen,
but the shape is incredible. Within a few months
when the swelling is gone I will have a completely
normal looking breast to match my real left one!
What I want anyone who reads
this story to take away is this: my cancer was
totally undetectable by a manual breast exam. My
surgeon said I was probably a year away from having a
palpable mass, but when it became palpable, it would
have been enormous. My mammogram saved me from
possible death, and from certain suffering through
chemotherapy and radiation treatments. Because of
my early diagnosis, I was spared so much. Please,
if there is a woman in your life whom you love, get her
to have a mammogram every year. Make it a test of
love if you must. You know, "if you loved me,
you'd get one". Mammography saves lives,
maybe your mother's life, your daughter's life, maybe
even your own life. I know it saved mine!
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