March 3, 2012:
As a women's health nurse practitioner, I do breast exams every day. I considered myself just like the average women by only doing my own breast exams every so often. In early February 2012 I found a lump in my left breast. I had my period at the time and we were leaving for vacation in Hawaii two days later, so I decided not to worry about it until we got back. With the stress and business of assimilating back to normal life, I honestly forgot about it for a week and a half. While doing another exam I realized that it hadn't changed. I really thought it was just an area of particularly dense breast tissue, but felt I should probably have it looked at, just in case.
I had an ultrasound and mammogram performed on February 24. The radiologist informed me that there was a mass and that it was very concerning, so I would need to schedule a biopsy. After he left I asked the ultrasound technician to review my scan with me and tell me exactly what was concerning. "Irregular borders, calcifications, and more tall than wide". Those were the words running through my head for the rest of the weekend. It only took me a few Google searches to realize that I, most likely, had breast cancer.
I am very lucky to work where I work, and with who I work with. On Monday morning, February 27, I was able to see a breast surgeon right away. She got me set up for a biopsy right away the next morning. On Tuesday February 28th, just a few hours after the biopsy, the doctor confirmed that it was in fact cancer.
My finally pathology came back just the next day: Grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma. My particular cancer is negative for both estrogen and progesterone receptors (meaning that these hormones are not feeding the cancer), but positive for the HER2/neu receptor. This means that I do have an increased risk of recurrence, especially in the first 5 years, and that this particular cancer is more aggressive than others.
I have decided to undergo a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. I will need at least 4-6 cycles of chemotherapy at 3 week intervals, plus a weekly infusion of a medication called Herceptin for one year.
Derek or I will try to update this website frequently to keep all of our friends and family informed of my progress.
Aimee,
ReplyDeleteI found your blog while searching for blogs about women that were diagnosed with breast cancer after a self breast exam. I have not blogged anything about my recent lump and lymph nodes that are swollen, because I don't want anyone to overreact. I, too, am a nurse practitioner (just with babies). I am curious how big your lump felt and exactly where it was and what it felt like. My diagnostic mammogram is tomorrow morning at 0800. Thank you for creating this blog. I plan on reading through it to see your story.