My Diagnosis Story
What symptoms led up to your diagnosis?
I am a Registered Nurse, and like some women, our children grew up, our careers took off, and I neglected my routine exams. I had no history of cancer in our family, I continued doing monthly self exams and found nothing new. I had just gotten married and my wonderful husband was persistently prodding me to get a check up - because it had been more than 15 years. I finally conceded, and scheduled a routine physical with my new PCP. My BP was a little elevated, and I was started on medication and a mammogram was scheduled.
The morning of my mammogram, my husband was admitted to the Critical Care unit with sepsis....I was very tempted to cancel my appointment, but I promised him I would have the mammogram. I took some time away from his bedside to have my test done. I was told they saw "things" on my mammogram. I explained that my breast tissue was very dense, and I was always being called back for a f/u mammogram or ultra sound for a "suspicious" area.
Sure enough, I got a phone call to come back in for a follow up mammogram...I came in for the mammogram, now I need to schedule an ultrasound as the mammogram did not clarify the area.
In the mean time, my husband is transferred out of Critical Care and onto a medical floor for monitoring.
Interventional radiology scheduled my ultrasound, and I waited anxiously for the appointment. In the mean time, my husband was discharged from the hospital and is finishing his recovery at home. The ultrasound appointment day finally arrived, and I head back to interventional radiology, hopefully to determine what this area of concern was (benign).
As the ultrasound proceeded, I knew the outcome I hoped for was not likely - the radiologist was called in to the exam room after the ultrasound was finished. We discussed the "findings" and what the next step would be. There are multiple areas of concern in the right lateral breast and an ultrasound guided biopsy is needed to determine if the areas of malignant or benign.
An ultrasound guided biopsy is scheduled, and the stress increases another notch. My husband accompanies me to the ultrasound guided biopsy. My husband was allowed to stay provided he sat down (so he wouldn't pass out). The biopsy proceeded, which was painless for me. I started to watch the ultrasound, but I got so upset, I decided it was best if I didn't. My husband was fascinated and watched with great interest, occasionally stopping to pat my hand, kiss my forehead and tell me I was doing great...I was told the results cold take 3-4 days.
On Tuesday, day 3, I got a phone call from my new PCP. It was the phone call that changed my life - I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
What tests did your doctor do, and what was this experience like?
From the time of my first mammogram, to my lumpectomy, was just over a month. I was fortunate to have a Nurse Navigator to assist with questions, concerns, and support.
A MRI was performed to assist with staging of the cancer. I was able to choose my surgeon, and my oncologist. The staff in interventional radiology was wonderful - I joked with them and asked how many tests does it take to get my name on a chair in their waiting room.....I had two mammograms, an ultrasound, and an ultrasound guided biopsy and an MRI with contrast. All of my blood work had been normal as was my urinalysis and EKG.
My medical team was incredible. The communication and collaboration between the physicians was awesome. Everyone took time to talk with me, discuss options and recommend. I also did my homework as well, I did research on the type of breast cancer I had, the recommendations, the characteristics, and the prognosis. The most difficult time I had was letting go of the control and leaving my care in the hands of my medial team.
Upon learning about your diagnosis, what happened next?
I began by meeting with my surgeon. She was very professional, very caring, and very knowledgable. I worked with her many years ago when I was a floor nurse and a sentinel node biopsy was new technology. Now it is the standard of care. She asked what had prompted me to schedule an mammogram. I told her my husband had prodded me to get a check up and the mammogram was part of the routine checkup. I told her I had been doing my monthly self exams and had noted no changes in the breast tissue. The surgeon was also unable to palpate any mass. I had Lobular breast cancer, a type of cancer that does NOT result in a mass, but is more like a spiderweb in the breast tissue. She also told me that I owe my husband a huge thank you, because if this had been caught later, it would be a very differerent story for me...I was initially staged at I with no metastasis noted. It was also stressed that as we gather more information, the staging can change.
My surgeon set up a consult with my Oncologist to discuss a plan of care. My Oncologist referred me to a GYN for a routine exam. She also set up a uterine ultrasound (back to interventional radiology, and no personalized chair yet). After that, I met again with my surgeon to set up a surgical date.
Long story short, my staging was changed after my surgery to 2A. The mass that was removed was 3.1cm x 1.6cm with clear margins. There were fewer than 200 random tumor cells found in the sentinel lymph node. As this was explained to me, this is NOT indicative of metastasis, but of "jarring cells loose" during the diagnosis and surgery.
My oncotyping score came back as an 11 - excellent, and I did not need to have chemotherapy, only radiation.
My final diagnosis was Invasive Pleomorphic Lobular Carcinoma of the right breast, stage 2A.
I just recently had my first mammogram and MRI post radiation. All scans are clear!
I was very lucky - I recommend all yearly checkups to be smart and safe.
Better to be smart than lucky....
