On Monday, November 16th my husband and I sat near my phone, waiting for a much-anticipated call. The week before, I had a biopsy of my left breast. At the start of the appointment, I was told I would find out the test results on November 16th via a scheduled phone call with a nurse.  The days between my biopsy and the results are a blur.  However, one thing I do remember vividly is the moment I was told…. “you have invasive ductal carcinoma”.

My heart plummeted to my stomach, I felt fear, shock and disbelief overcome my body. The nurse navigator explained everything in detail, gave me a few names of surgeons, and tried to assure me that I had caught this early and that everything would work out.

The funny thing about shock is that your body more or less goes into autopilot. She was talking… I was taking notes while trying not to let her know I was “this close” to breaking down.  I couldn’t look my husband in the eyes.  If I did I knew I’d break down right then and there. 

My mind was racing with questions and thoughts.  How can this be!  I have no family history of breast cancer, I don’t have a palpable lump… this must be a mistake! Did they mix up my test results with someone else?

So, I hung up the phone knowing I had been diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma.  It was stage 1, grade 1, ER+, PR+, HER2-. 

Ultrasound image of my tumor

The Next Steps

I called my parents and siblings within minutes of receiving the news to let them know.  Then, I took a nap. I just couldn’t handle the stress.

The remainder of my week was spent sitting in waiting rooms, interviewing surgeons and radiologists, having additional tests ran. By Friday I had selected my surgeon. At this point, I was honestly still in a bit of a daze.  I had just spent a week bouncing from waiting room to waiting room.  I’d been poked, prodded and I felt like all the medical professionals in the valley had seen my bare boobs.  I’d also been asked the COVID screening questions dozens of times.  Yet all I wanted to do was curl up, crawl in a hole, and sleep.  But… sleep had to wait.  I had a business to run.  So in between doctors’ appointments, I was photographing sessions, editing, and doing all of the things normally required of me.

Surgery

By the following Monday, I had a surgery scheduled for December 2nd.  My husband and I had decided it was best if I got in as soon as possible.  Not only for insurance/year-end issues…. but because I needed things to move along. Too much sitting around and waiting would just give my mind too many opportunities to think up worse case scenarios. The 4 days leading up to surgery included a number of additional appointments.  A COVID test, mag seed placement, and a sentinel node injection were just a few of the requirements.

Surgery day came a mere 2 weeks after my diagnosis. I walked through the hospital doors bright and early on December 2nd. COVID was just beginning to resurge. The waiting room was completely empty.. and mostly dark. The whole situation was surreal, but OMG was $@*% getting real!

Right before I was taken back for surgery

The Lumpectomy was performed and I was home in my own bed by 11 am. I don’t really remember even driving home. As soon as I woke up they had me dressed and out the door. I guess it’s a part of the new COVID post-op procedures.

The next 6 weeks I spent healing and waiting for pathology reports. Post-surgery I had a full genetic workup done in addition to having the tumor sent in for an Oncotype test. These test results helped my medical team come up with the best possible treatment plan for me. In my case, that is 30 rounds of radiation. 6 weeks, 5 days a week. This was great news. I was ecstatic to find out that the Oncotype test had revealed I’m not a good candidate for chemo.

December 31st @ 10 am. I just I found out I will only have to do radiation.
Happy New Year to me …. NO CHEMO!!

I had my first radiation treatment today, January 14th. I know for some of you it would sound crazy to say I’ve been looking forward to it. But for those of you in my shoes, you know this means you’re one step closer to being done with all of this. Having cancer and going through active treatment is a full-time job. It’s time-consuming and mentally and physically draining.

Even with that said… I’m still working and actively scheduling sessions. In fact, I was in the studio photographing a session just one hour after this treatment.

Day 1 of radiation complete!

This is what I get to do everyday for the next 29 days.

I’m sure some of you are asking why am I just now announcing this? I mean everyone shares everything on social media…. right? In all honesty, I just needed to process all of the information and the flood of emotions on my own timeline. I knew I could not handle any additional opinions or words of sympathy. In all honestly… I still really don’t care to talk about it much outside of my family.

However, with that said, I do feel strongly that my experience is one that others can learn from. My message to everyone is: If you or someone you love is either 40 years old, or has a family history of breast cancer…. GET YOUR MAMMOGRAM!!! Early detection is key!!! I know we all hear it all the time, and many of us have the misconception that if you don’t have a family history, or that you can’t feel a lump….you don’t need to worry. If you think that, I’m here to tell you, you’re wrong. I had no family history. I could not feel a lump, yet here I am, going through breast cancer treatment.. Just get your mammogram!

I was lucky. I caught it early. It’s not spread to my lymph nodes and most likely… these last few months of surgery and treatment will ultimately just be a blip on my timeline. Thank you mammograms for saving my life.

PS. I have to give a huge shout-out to all of the staff over at St. Alphonsus. Everyone went above and beyond to make this whole process as simple as possible.