The Journey Begins

2-6-13:  It was just another day and another year. I went in for my yearly exam on February 6th. Since moving from Des Moines back to Waterloo I was seeing a new OB doctor. After explaining the family history with my mom having breast cancer and that her genetic testing was negative, they determined I shouldn't have anything to worry about and didn't think a mammogram at my age was necessary. And then.....they performed a breast exam and it all changed. A little pea sized lump was found on my left breast. Just to be precautious she decided that the mammogram might not be a bad idea after all.

2-8-13:  I headed in for a mammogram. I was quite nervous. The nurses were very friendly and helpful. After getting the girls squished and photographed they had me wait while a doctor looked over the initial scans. They determined they wanted more information so they had me wait around to get an ultrasound. I was extremely nervous at this point. I saw a half a dozen women come in for a mammogram and head home. What was wrong? Why did they need me to get an ultrasound? Once I got in the Ultrasound room I was beyond anxious. I'd had ultrasounds when I was pregnant but this was an entirely different experience. After what seemed like an eternity, we were done. And then the worst news: It was a Friday afternoon and I had to wait to get the results from my OB doctor the following Monday. Just great!

2-11-13: My doctor's office called late in the afternoon on Monday. They didn't have any specific results but did say the information was still questionable so they wanted to refer me to a specialist the following day.

2-12-13: I headed into the specialist and was nervous about what they might tell me. The doctor performed another ultrasound and showed me some things on the monitor. It was the size of a tiny jelly bean. He was confident it was nothing to worry about as cancerous cells TYPICALLY are not round and smooth. They are TYPICALLY jagged and not symettrical. At this point he thought I most likely had a Fibroadenomas which is a benign tumor in the breast. Based on this information the doctor suggested we continue to watch the lump to make sure it didn't increase over time. They also gave me the option to have a biopsy if I wanted although based on the information they had, they didn't think it was necessary. Based on the history with my mom and I knew if nothing else it would ease both my mom and my mind to know one way or the other just to be sure so I asked them to go ahead and perform the biopsy. It was expected to be two business days before I'd get my results back: Valentines Day!

2-13-13: I got a phone call from the doctor's office. They wanted me to come in to check my incision from the biopsy. I thought that was strange as they hadn't mentioned anything about that the day before when I was there. Plus they said it would be two days until I got results so I didn't think much of it. I arrived at the doctor's office that afternoon. I still didn't have any idea of what was going on until the Doctor came in and sat down to make himself comfortable. CRAP! That can't be a good sign. They had already gotten the results back and it was in fact breast cancer. The doctor was astonished! He couldn't believe my results were positive. I had been diagnosed with Grade 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (the most common type of breast cancer). At that point they didn't have any other preliminary information back on the receptors so the next step was to go in for an MRI to determine how the cancer was using the blood supply and to make sure the cancer hadn't spread into my lymph nodes.

2-14-13: After an emotional day of sharing my news with family and co-workers (which I have the best support group ever!) it was time to head in for the MRI. The nurse was so great in explaining what we would be doing to ease my mind through the process. If you have never had an MRI, well that is quite the experience. The machine sounds like a huge jackhammer. It was over in no time at all and I was free to head home. On my way out of the clinic I stopped by my doctor's office to take the genetic test or BRCA. Due to my young age at diagnosis as well as my mother having had breast cancer they wanted to test me to see if the cancer was genetic (my mom had been tested two years prior and her test came back negative). I was told to expect the results to take a couple weeks to come back.

2-18-13: Today I met with the doctor to review the results of the MRI. The best news was that nothing had spread into my lymph nodes (thank the lord!). It also showed a couple of other questionable areas. Two more spots on the left side and one questionable area on the right. The doctor looked at the questionable areas on the ultrasound. Unfotunately there wasn't much more we could do as we were still waiting on the rest of my test results to come in. Two of my three receptors had come back and were negative. At this point we were waiting on the HER2 and the BRCA to come back. Based on what they did know at this point they were thinking that my best road to recovery would start with a mastectomy. Based on this they suggested that I start the ball rolling to meet with a plastic surgeon in regards to reconstruction surgery. Another hot topic at this point was also seeking out a second opinion. Based on my young age and the possibility of a drastic surgery ahead of me, it was suggested I seek out a second opinion at Mayo Clinic. I have an appointment scheduled with them on March 4th. Then the true waiting game began. It would be an entire week until my next piece of new information would arrive.

2-25-13: I got the call with my final results. My BRCA or genetic test came back positive. My last receptor was negative. So what did that mean? I officially have Triple Negative Breast Cancer. This is the same type of breast cancer my mom had just two years ago. Only 15-20% of all breast cancer cases are triple negative. Some of the notable differences of triple negative is 1) The chance of relapse or a reoccurance is much higher for triple negative and 2) Chemotherapy is the general rule of thumb for triple negative as just radiation or other forms of treatment alone will not get rid of triple negative breast cancer. The big question we are left with at this point is how could I test positive and my mom was negative yet we both had the same exact type of cancer? My mom has now been retested based on these results so we are awaiting the confirmation of where this genetic breast cancer actually lies. My sister has also been tested so hopefully between the three of us we can determine the future of breast cancer for our families.