Starting with a bump

It is interesting to me that I would ever consider writing a blog.  The main issue, I am terrible with grammar!  So, if the only amusement that comes from this blog is making fun of the fact that there are fourth graders out there with better grammar than I, so be it! (Even with this previous sentence I thought back and forth to decide if I should use I or me, ugh!)  Here on out I will not apologize for my grammar I will simple type what I feel! I pray that no one is offended by any of my comments or my going too far into detail.

This all started, October 17, 2010, when I found a lump in my left breast while performing my monthly self exam.  Now most women I have talked to since are amazed that I, being so young, would routinely perform a self exam.  Well, the recommend time to begin these exams is at the age of 20, I am 30. 

Sorry, I am going to give a little PSA at the junction... The reason it is so important to start the monthly self exams early is so you will know your breast.  All breast have "lumps" in them, but when concerns come into play is if there is a change in any of your lumps.

So I found the lump and proceeded to make an appointment with my OB/GYN. My doctor felt it necessary to send me for a Mammogram with a possible ultrasound to follow.  On October 21 I had my first Mammogram and ultrasound.  I must say that I thought I would be in quite a bit of pain with the procedures, but I found them painless and not even all that uncomfortable.

The radiologist saw a spot on the Mammogram and the ultrasound, the same spot I could feel.  He suggested that have a breast MRI of both my breast at the earliest time possible.  

Josh and I have already decided that I was going to go to a surgeon and have the lump removed and biopsied.  I saw my surgeon the next day and was scheduled for a left breast lump excision the following Wednesday, October 27.  The surgeon had examined the lump and expressed the discharge from my breast and he felt that what we were dealing with was a Ductal Papilloma.  This is a wart like growth that is "almost never cancerous."

The excision went well and the lump was removed and still believed to be a Ductal Papilloma.  My recovery was going as planned and I was on my way for a follow up and possible removal of my stitches on November 1.  Since everything seemed "normal" I opted to get my stitches out by myself.

Sitting in the exam room I had an overwhelming sense that my doctor was going to enter with bad news.  God had prepared me and given me a peace in my situation before the words ever left my doctors lips.  People always say in times like this that all they hear are the first words of bad news and the rest just fly right by.   I on the other hand remember everything to a tea.  My doctor did not want to talk with me without my husband and my parents present, so we called them and waited for them to arrive.  And then the words came....

Ductal Carcinoma In Situ, DCIS...it is not malignant but 100% of the time will become malignant.  OK, where do we go from here.  There are several options in a "normal" circumstance.  Well, because of the location of my lump the option that gives me a 100% cure is a mastectomy. 

Today, November 2, we went on to have the MRI of the breast with and without contrast to see how much growth we have and if the cells have also infiltrated the right breast.  For reasons I am not completely sure of these cells do not routinely show up on Mammograms and ultrasounds.  Also women with DCIS do not usually present with drainage or a lump.  To that I say, "Thank God for drainage!"

All of these strange factors come into play when you realize without detection I would have developed breast cancer in the near future.  Sure I have to still go through the motions that most women who experience breast cancer do, but if we are aggressive I may never have to undergo radiation or chemo. 

So as I end this very long blog tonight I realized that I am extremely blessed in so many areas of my life.  I also know that this is going to be a long and somewhat uncomfortable road, but I am ready to go!