Cancer Journey

In February of 2020, I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Let me rewind a little further. In November of 2019 we found out I was pregnant, we were thrilled. I have a history of miscarriages, and learned that I have an autoimmune disorder. Since I had this autoimmune disorder and I work all sorts of chemicals my doctor placed me on a leave from work stating I was a high risk. So I just stayed home with my 4 year old and waited for our little new buddle to grow and make her entrance.

Well in February I was experiencing some breast pain, I know you’re thinking that breast pain is normal in pregnancy, and you are absolutely right. But this pain was going to one specific spot on my breast. As I was rubbing to get the pain to go away I felt a lump. Sometimes I get a little paranoid when it comes to my health. So I went to my husband and asked him if he felt anything, he said that he did feel it. The next day I had an appointment with my OBGYN and informed him of the pain and the lump. He felt it and measured it at almost 6 cm. He sent me to get a mammogram.

Mammograms are normally done at 40 or older, unless you have a family history of cancer and/or a genetic mutation of the BRACA and BRACA 2 gene. I was 32 at the time I was diagnosed. My paternal grandmother passed from breast cancer at the age of 50. She is the only other family member that had breast cancer, which means I have a weak family history. My BRACA testing was negative which mean that I did not have the mutation that could put me at a higher risk for cancer.

In a way I was lucky when it came to my mammogram, see for those of you that don’t know, a mammogram is performed by using radiation after it flattens your breast into a pancake. Since I was pregnant they could not turn my titties into pancakes, instead they used ultrasound.

Of course the ultrasound tech found my lump and had the radiologist come take a look at it. The Radiologist doctor said that he didn’t think it was something to worry about but gave me the choice of getting a biopsy that day or waiting 6 months to see if it grows. He thought that it might have been a fibrocystic lump, which I have had a history of in my other breast. We both were not worried, but I have always been proactive when it came to my health and I didn’t want to stress and worry it over it with being pregnant. I opted to get a biopsy that day.

A few days later on Feb. 20th I got the call. The radiologist said that the results were not at all what we were expecting. He told me that my biopsy showed cancerous cells and someone would be in contact with me to answer any questions.

I went through all the phone calls and it was decided that my treatment plan would be as follows:

Mastectomy on Cancer side (by this time COVID was just starting to roll so they only did what was necessary)

4 Rounds of AC or the “Red Devil” Chemo

Take a break to deliver baby (yes, she went through the first two steps with me)

12 rounds of Taxol chemo

Start hormone blocker

Mastectomy on noncancer side for preventative measures with expanders for future implants for both breasts.

Radiation

Exchange surgery

My surgery came and the surgeon took my whole left breast with 28 lymph nodes. Two of the 28 were positive for cancer. The pathology report read ER+ PR+ Her2-. What did this mean? Luckily I work in a pathology lab and knew a little bit about this. ER/PR+ meant that my cancer was hormone positive (Estrogen and Progesterone). The Her2 is a protein but for me it was negative. The said I had Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Stage 1B Grade 3. Stage 1B was based on my lymph node involvement (2) and the size of the tumor. One tumor was 5.6cm and there was another smaller one that was a surprise but was 0.8cm. The grade 3 meant how fast the cancer was growing.

Since I was pregnant at the time of my diagnosis, my oncologist told me that my pregnancy did NOT cause the cancer but the hormones FED the cancer. They told me had I not been pregnant, I still would have gotten breast cancer they just don’t know when we would have found it or how far it would have spread.

Remember, I was 32 years old, 18 weeks pregnant at the time. My cancer still would have came if I wasn’t pregnant. We found my cancer early, I was lucky. What if I decided not to get pregnant? When would this come to surface?

My baby was my hero, she literally saved my life, without her who knows how much more damage the cancer would have done before we found it.

You may be asking why do we care, this is too personal. And maybe it is, but I bet some of you are probably a bit nosy life myself and might be asking why my appearance changed. Also, I don’t care if it is too personal. I want to share this journey because it is one we did not choose, but we went through it. Also, I had made it my goal to be an advocate for breast cancer patients and to educate the public that cancer does not discriminate. It can happen to anyone.

I will end this post with a couple of things:

*Check your breast often-early detection is key

advocate for yourself, if you feel a doctor is not listening to you, get a second or third opinion. YOU are in charge of your health

MEN CAN GET BREAST CANCER TOO!!!

You are NOT TO YOUNG for cancer

You do not need a strong family history of cancer

Seek support

And for those of you wondering, as of August 2020 I had no evidence of disease and my baby girl is super strong and doing well, she is almost one!

Believe in yourself, learn from your journey. I learned a lot about me during all of this. I also learned a lot about my kick ass husband.