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I
had a history of cysts so I thought nothing when I found
another lump in my breast in the summer of 1992. I went
to my family doctor as I always did. He felt the lump
and thought it was nothing to be concerned about, but
suggested that I have an ultra sound to check it out.
The lump was high on my left breast and did not show up on a
mammogram. I went for the ultrasound. When the
results came back, my family doctor told me it was a
fluid-filled cyst and nothing to worry about and to just keep
an eye on it.
One
year later the lump was still there, a little bigger, and a
little painful. I went back to my doctor, who sent
me for another ultrasound. He told me the results came
back the same - that it was a cyst and nothing to worry about
it. I told him I WAS worried and would need a referral
to a surgeon. He told me it wasn't necessary and
wouldn't give me a referral. I went to the surgeon on my
own.
My
surgeon attempted to aspirate the lump, but was unable to get
any fluid out of it. He decided to do a needle biopsy.
I was going directly past the hospital on my way to work, so
he asked if I would mind dropping the specimen off...of
course, I did that. I was at work about an hour when the
phone rang. It was my surgeon. His words to me
were, "we have a problem". I had known in my
heart that my lump was not just a cyst. My fears were
now confirmed, but now I also knew that I would have an ally
in this new battle I would have to fight. I got my news
on a Monday and my lumpectomy was scheduled for the very
next Wednesday.
I
returned to my surgeon for a follow-up five days after the
surgery and as a result of the pathologist's report, he
recommended a mastectomy. That procedure was scheduled
for two days later. I had absolutely no problems
following the surgery and made a full recovery. The day
I returned home from the hospital, my family doctor called.
His first words to me when I answered the phone were
"what the hell is going on?" I told him that
the lump he dismissed over a year ago as "just a
cyst" was cancer and that he was no longer my doctor.
My
message is this...take an active part in your healthcare.
Just because a doctor says "don't worry", if
something bothers you...seek further advice...and do your
monthly breast self-exams - they might just save your life.
I know they saved mine.
Mary
Ann
Thanks
for sending your story. You are so right about taking
charge of your own healthcare. My own oncologist, who
had seen all of my (ugly) pathology reports, etc. thought
that after my mastectomy and chemotherapy I didn't need
radiation. I definitely thought I did, and when I saw a
radiation oncologist, he thought so too. I had 8
positive lymph nodes and cancer cells found throughout the
entire breast after the mastectomy! At age 32 I
wanted to do everything possible to get rid of it!
Kim
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