The importance of self exams & mammograms OR I found a lump!
Good Friday to you!
This is going to be one of those informative posts where I share my business in hopes of helping others. In this case, I want everyone reading this to do a self exam or, if it's time, get a mammogram...or nudge someone you love to do so. This is the story of my lump discovery.
Let me start by saying that I have always been a little OCD about regular self exams. The guidelines are to do them monthly. I was always more of a weekly type person. That said, I still didn't catch my lump in the early stages. For those of you who might be joining the party late, when I was diagnosed I was told that I had two different types of breast cancer. One of which does not cause a lump. Let me repeat that - IT DOES NOT CAUSE A LUMP. The good news is, that type of cancer stays put. It travels in the milk ducts and stays in the breast. Lucky for me (yes that's sarcasm you're sensing) I also had the kind that DOES cause a lump AND (bonus) it can travel. UGH! Wasn't one type enough? For me, the answer is obviously no.
Let's get back to Lump Day. As diligent as I was about self checks, I didn't find the lump during an exam, per se. I had a tender spot, which I thought was there as a result of an ill-fitting bra or, at the very least, a misdirected underwire. I was laying on my right side and I reached around to my left side to check out the tender spot and I felt a lump. Lump doesn't seem like an appropriate word, it felt pretty big to me. (When it was removed, if memory serves, it was dangerously close to 6 cm). I had never felt anything before. I'm not really sure if it had been there for a while and I was just in a position at that time to feel it OR if it had grown quickly. Based on the information from the biopsy, the growth rate of the "lump cancer" was medium, the ductal cancer was the faster growing of the two. The lesson here is that even though I did regular exams, I didn't feel anything until it was bigger than a golf ball.
The next question is whether I'd had a mammogram or not. The answer is no. My doctor and I had talked about it when I turned 40 but didn't schedule one. I was calling to schedule my next annual exam when I found the lump. I didn't feel terribly rushed prior to that because I had heard that the revised guidelines suggested that annual mammograms should start @ age 50. I'm here to tell you that, had I waited until 50, I would have been dead. No joke. I trusted the guidelines before I was diagnosed, now I think they are crap. There are so many women, with no family history, who are diagnosed. It's so scary. Mattie, as a result of my diagnosis, will start having mammograms by age 30, if not earlier. That is the case even though my genetic testing showed that I did not have the mutated BRCA gene. If that was the case, she would have to be tested even earlier.
If you take anything from my experience, it is to do self exams, don't delay mammograms and act quickly. I found my lump on a Saturday March 15, called the doctor on Monday, saw the doctor Tuesday, had a diagnostic mammogram/ultrasound/biopsy a week later and had a bilateral mastectomy on April 15. I started chemo on May 14...yada yada yada. Things in your life can change quickly.
If you have any questions, feel like you need some support or just want to find out more, feel free to contact me. You can do so via the blog "contact me" link, via the Facebook page or private message.
Get checked!
Love to all,
Andee
This is going to be one of those informative posts where I share my business in hopes of helping others. In this case, I want everyone reading this to do a self exam or, if it's time, get a mammogram...or nudge someone you love to do so. This is the story of my lump discovery.
Let me start by saying that I have always been a little OCD about regular self exams. The guidelines are to do them monthly. I was always more of a weekly type person. That said, I still didn't catch my lump in the early stages. For those of you who might be joining the party late, when I was diagnosed I was told that I had two different types of breast cancer. One of which does not cause a lump. Let me repeat that - IT DOES NOT CAUSE A LUMP. The good news is, that type of cancer stays put. It travels in the milk ducts and stays in the breast. Lucky for me (yes that's sarcasm you're sensing) I also had the kind that DOES cause a lump AND (bonus) it can travel. UGH! Wasn't one type enough? For me, the answer is obviously no.
Let's get back to Lump Day. As diligent as I was about self checks, I didn't find the lump during an exam, per se. I had a tender spot, which I thought was there as a result of an ill-fitting bra or, at the very least, a misdirected underwire. I was laying on my right side and I reached around to my left side to check out the tender spot and I felt a lump. Lump doesn't seem like an appropriate word, it felt pretty big to me. (When it was removed, if memory serves, it was dangerously close to 6 cm). I had never felt anything before. I'm not really sure if it had been there for a while and I was just in a position at that time to feel it OR if it had grown quickly. Based on the information from the biopsy, the growth rate of the "lump cancer" was medium, the ductal cancer was the faster growing of the two. The lesson here is that even though I did regular exams, I didn't feel anything until it was bigger than a golf ball.
The next question is whether I'd had a mammogram or not. The answer is no. My doctor and I had talked about it when I turned 40 but didn't schedule one. I was calling to schedule my next annual exam when I found the lump. I didn't feel terribly rushed prior to that because I had heard that the revised guidelines suggested that annual mammograms should start @ age 50. I'm here to tell you that, had I waited until 50, I would have been dead. No joke. I trusted the guidelines before I was diagnosed, now I think they are crap. There are so many women, with no family history, who are diagnosed. It's so scary. Mattie, as a result of my diagnosis, will start having mammograms by age 30, if not earlier. That is the case even though my genetic testing showed that I did not have the mutated BRCA gene. If that was the case, she would have to be tested even earlier.
If you take anything from my experience, it is to do self exams, don't delay mammograms and act quickly. I found my lump on a Saturday March 15, called the doctor on Monday, saw the doctor Tuesday, had a diagnostic mammogram/ultrasound/biopsy a week later and had a bilateral mastectomy on April 15. I started chemo on May 14...yada yada yada. Things in your life can change quickly.
If you have any questions, feel like you need some support or just want to find out more, feel free to contact me. You can do so via the blog "contact me" link, via the Facebook page or private message.
Get checked!
Love to all,
Andee