Bad boob, bad!

Yes, I felt the lump on my own. No, I wasn’t particularly worried. Yes, I alerted my doctor.  Yes, I waited longer than I care to admit in getting the mammogram (in my defense, this occurred right before Covid).  No, I didn’t think it was malignant. 

I was wrong. Wrong to wait, wrong to be cavalier, wrong to assume the little mass was benign. (Three wrongs don’t make a right.)

Well, what can you do but forge ahead.  The 3-d mammogram in late August showed suspicious activity in my left breast ducts and axilla lymph nodes.  The biopsy on each a few weeks later revealed invasive carcinoma.  Several weeks later, latter part of October now (many hoops to be jumped through obtaining proper insurance) and after meeting with one of Austin’s renowned breast cancer specialists, I am going in for a CT Scan and a molecular bone scan.  These tests should provide Dr. Patt with enough information to go on in creating a treatment action plan.  The biopsy results showed her the cancer is at stage three, possibly stage 4, and these scans should give her a more definite read on which is most accurate. The treatment protocol will be different, depending on the stage (if 3, likely 3 months of chemotherapy to shrink the tumors, followed by surgery; if 4, beginning an internal medicine immediately to deal with the spread, followed by surgery and further appropriate treatments.). 

Dr. Patt assures me this cancer is treatable, even if it has progressed to stage 4, and that I can still live well, long and happily.  That the treatment for breast cancer has improved so much over the years with all of the research and treatment protocol developments, that I should not fear.  She sternly admonished she considers me a flight risk: that I’ve been healthy my entire life, that I waited too long after the initial noticing, that if I walked out the doors, frightened by the things she revealed and decided to do nothing and go on as before, this cancer will continue to spread and will end my life, likely within the span of two years.  I assure you I will not go that route (as much as I like to joke about running away to the desert) and will face this new reality with warrior determination.  

I have faith in spirit, science, medicine, the mind and body’s ability to heal, and the incredible support of family, friends and community.  It may be inconvenient, frightening, uncomfortable and unwanted, but I am in the company of so very many others who’ve been down this road.  Cancer?  No, you can’t, sir!