It’s Time For A Mammogram

At the recommendation of my primary care physician in Seattle, I had my first mammogram at age 40. Within 2 weeks of the mammogram, I was called back for another so they could clarify something they saw. Well that second screening led to a biopsy on my right breast, a stereotactic needle biopsy where my breast hung through an opening in a table and they removed tissue with a needle. It was a very uncomfortable procedure.

I was a wreck waiting on the lab results, worrying about whether I had cancer or not. The word “cancer” sounded like a death sentence and as a single mother of 3 boys, I worried whether or not I would be able to care for them and see them grow up.

A week later, the call came and indeed, I had a cancer diagnosis, an early stage in-situ ductal carcinoma. Off to the surgeon I went. We decided on a lumpectomy and radiation. After surgery, I met with an oncologist and based on research I had done, much to the dismay of the oncologist, I declined the recommended standard treatment.

After a few weeks of recovery and a break from my job, I started the radiation treatment and went during my lunch break at work. I didn’t find it to be too difficult and it wasn’t painful.

Later, my primary care physician called and recommended an alternative chemotreatment, Tamoxofin, a pill that I would take twice a day for 5 years. I didn’t have any reaction to the medication so I continued it as proscribed.