January 15-ish..... After years of delay, I finally set goals to better myself, and I started working out. After a few circuit training classes and various other workouts, I was pretty sore. As I was massaging my sore muscles, I felt a lump in my right breast near my armpit, but only when my right arm was stretched backward. Hmmmm. Nothing on the left side. Strange, but it's probably nothing, I thought. I couldn't feel the lump when my arm was relaxed, so it must not really be there.
A few weeks went by, and on occasion, I would stretch my arm back, and there was the lump. It felt larger than a pea, but smaller than a cherry. I finally decided to call the doc and schedule an appt. When the receptionist said "come in NOW", I thought.....could it be that urgent? My better judgement told me to cancel a luncheon I had planned to attend and go to the doctor's office. She couldn't even feel the lump, but thought it should get checked anyway, so she sent me to get a mammo, an ultrasound, and a needle biopsy, if needed.
By the way, I had just had a mammo 4 months earlier, in October of 2007. I remember the girl telling me how excited she was that in November they would be moving to digital technology.
On 2/27/08, at 9:00 am., I checked into Total Care in Los Alamitos. If you want efficiency, these guys have their crap together. By 10:30, I had a mammo, and ultrasound and a needle biopsy. I was expecting them to find nothing with the ultrasound, but unfortunately, they did, and so the needle biopsy was needed.
I was supposed to get results from the biopsy in about 3 days. Since it was a Wednesday morning, I figured I might get lucky and have the results by Friday. I finally got the results on Monday late afternoon. They didn't take enough tissue (translated ... the needle was not working properly), so I had to go back and have the biopsy done again on Wednesday. There goes a week and a lot of wondering. I had a routine appt scheduled for Thursday, 3/6 with my doc, and she demanded preliminary results from the pathologist. 24 hours after the 2nd biopsy, the doc had preliminary results. The news wasn't good. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Fortunately the tumor was small, so I was relieved to hear I was at Stage I.
I met with a couple of great surgeons, and I ended up choosing Dr. Melvin Silverstein at Hoag. He was literally in his first week at Hoag when I met with him, but his track record was phenomenal. He is world-renowned in breast cancer treatment and research. He had just moved from USC to run the Breast Care Center at Hoag. Great, great man. (See how God is lining everything up for me?)
I had surgery (lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy) on 3/18/08. This is what I sent in an email the day after surgery:
Good news with yesterday's surgery. The doc removed the 1.8 cm tumor, and the sentinel lymph node biopsy showed that the cancer had NOT spread to the lymph nodes. Yay! I'll see him on Monday for review of the pathology report and news of further treatment. Everything I've heard from the doctors and read in books says I'll have to have radiation treatment, but that's ok. I'll do whatever has to be done to make sure it's all gone.
When I woke up in recovery yesterday, the first thing out of my mouth was "These bandages are too tight, and I can't breathe." The doc had ace-type bandages wrapped around me so tight (to reduce bruising) that I felt like my ribs were overlapping each other. I thought I had experienced tightness in my chest before, but nothing compared to that. The doc came back and re-bandaged me (instant relief). The nurse said my pulse went from 114 to 102 after the bandage change. I told her relieve the 'transporter guy', as I was ready to walk down to my next destination. She said "Wow. Do you want to help us lift this patient, too?" Typically I don't enjoy myself in the recovery room, but I felt SO MUCH BETTER after the rebandage.
Today I'm doing well. No real pain to speak of, just some soreness in the sternum area (as the 2nd set of bandages are still a little tight). I should be back to work Thursday or Friday. Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes. Have your loved ones do their self-exams! I rarely did, because I thought I wouldn't be able to notice anything different. After finding something questionable, the thought might be that it's nothing, but get it checked! Better safe than sorry. I've heard numerous stories of women waiting too long to pursue a lump.
A few weeks went by, and on occasion, I would stretch my arm back, and there was the lump. It felt larger than a pea, but smaller than a cherry. I finally decided to call the doc and schedule an appt. When the receptionist said "come in NOW", I thought.....could it be that urgent? My better judgement told me to cancel a luncheon I had planned to attend and go to the doctor's office. She couldn't even feel the lump, but thought it should get checked anyway, so she sent me to get a mammo, an ultrasound, and a needle biopsy, if needed.
By the way, I had just had a mammo 4 months earlier, in October of 2007. I remember the girl telling me how excited she was that in November they would be moving to digital technology.
On 2/27/08, at 9:00 am., I checked into Total Care in Los Alamitos. If you want efficiency, these guys have their crap together. By 10:30, I had a mammo, and ultrasound and a needle biopsy. I was expecting them to find nothing with the ultrasound, but unfortunately, they did, and so the needle biopsy was needed.
I was supposed to get results from the biopsy in about 3 days. Since it was a Wednesday morning, I figured I might get lucky and have the results by Friday. I finally got the results on Monday late afternoon. They didn't take enough tissue (translated ... the needle was not working properly), so I had to go back and have the biopsy done again on Wednesday. There goes a week and a lot of wondering. I had a routine appt scheduled for Thursday, 3/6 with my doc, and she demanded preliminary results from the pathologist. 24 hours after the 2nd biopsy, the doc had preliminary results. The news wasn't good. Invasive ductal carcinoma (IDC). Fortunately the tumor was small, so I was relieved to hear I was at Stage I.
I met with a couple of great surgeons, and I ended up choosing Dr. Melvin Silverstein at Hoag. He was literally in his first week at Hoag when I met with him, but his track record was phenomenal. He is world-renowned in breast cancer treatment and research. He had just moved from USC to run the Breast Care Center at Hoag. Great, great man. (See how God is lining everything up for me?)
I had surgery (lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy) on 3/18/08. This is what I sent in an email the day after surgery:
Good news with yesterday's surgery. The doc removed the 1.8 cm tumor, and the sentinel lymph node biopsy showed that the cancer had NOT spread to the lymph nodes. Yay! I'll see him on Monday for review of the pathology report and news of further treatment. Everything I've heard from the doctors and read in books says I'll have to have radiation treatment, but that's ok. I'll do whatever has to be done to make sure it's all gone.
When I woke up in recovery yesterday, the first thing out of my mouth was "These bandages are too tight, and I can't breathe." The doc had ace-type bandages wrapped around me so tight (to reduce bruising) that I felt like my ribs were overlapping each other. I thought I had experienced tightness in my chest before, but nothing compared to that. The doc came back and re-bandaged me (instant relief). The nurse said my pulse went from 114 to 102 after the bandage change. I told her relieve the 'transporter guy', as I was ready to walk down to my next destination. She said "Wow. Do you want to help us lift this patient, too?" Typically I don't enjoy myself in the recovery room, but I felt SO MUCH BETTER after the rebandage.
Today I'm doing well. No real pain to speak of, just some soreness in the sternum area (as the 2nd set of bandages are still a little tight). I should be back to work Thursday or Friday. Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes. Have your loved ones do their self-exams! I rarely did, because I thought I wouldn't be able to notice anything different. After finding something questionable, the thought might be that it's nothing, but get it checked! Better safe than sorry. I've heard numerous stories of women waiting too long to pursue a lump.
Thought I'd throw in a couple of pics of me.....
Me and my grandsons, Joe and Ryan in 2007....
April 2008....
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