The “C” word

Cancer is such a scary word. It immediately creates fear when you hear it. Fear of the unknown, fear of what’s to come, fear for your family.

I had a biopsy on December 23, 2021 of a mass that was found on my routine mammogram. I was told that I probably wouldn’t have results until the 28th or 29th because of the holidays. I really didn’t think much of it. I have no history of breast cancer in my family and I have other benign cysts. December 27, 2021 – I was working at home that day. I was alone. My husband was out of town dealing with the property of his step-dad who had recently passed away. An unknown number called around 4:00PM. I answered and it was the radiologist who had performed the biopsy. She explained that the biopsy showed cancer cells. Wait… What?? I’m not sure what I said to her during that phone call. She instructed me to call a breast surgeon to follow up. My next call was from my gynecologist. She wanted to be sure that I had received a call from Radiology and that she was sorry to hear of the results and would be there if I needed her. It was a very surreal moment. From that moment until I had surgery it seemed as if I was talking about someone else. Not me. I naively thought that I was healthy because I wasn’t on any medications. I kept up with my annual appointments, my diet was healthy, I exercised and I felt great! I am thankful that I had my mammograms each year. That is a big deal as my story continues.