Diagnosis Part 1

I was driving to the grocery store when I received the call I was anxiously waiting for. It was Dr. H with my pathology report. After confirming my name and date of birth, she went on to tell me; "It's not the results we were hoping for. At this point you have Stage 1 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma." 

I was remarkably calm and managed to turn around and head home so I could make the dreaded call to my husband, Jeff. I asked her a couple of questions and she informed me that the next step was to schedule an MRI with contrast so they could see if it had spread further than the one site they found in the mammogram and find a surgeon.   

I hung up and pulled into the garage. I called Jeff from the car in the garage. Fun fact about Jeff and Laurie, we don't call each other on the phone unless it's something really important or timely. We usually text or Skype during the day if needed. Jeff picked up the phone and from his voice, he knew what was coming. 

Let's rewind a little bit to see how I got to this diagnosis. 

I was due for my yearly mammogram in August of 2022.  In the past I had always had it done in March, but in March of 2021 they found calcifications and told me to come back in 6 months. I did and everything was fine. I was back onto the yearly cycle. March came around and I realized I didn't have to go in until August. When August came around, it wasn't even on my radar. In retrospect, I should have made an appointment for August 6 months in advance.  I realized I had forgotten  around Thanksgiving, it was a very busy fall! I made an appointment for January 3rd.

This week the FDA is requiring mammogram reports to include breast density information. This is a huge deal. I've known that I have dense breasts since my first mammogram. I was fortunate to have great care that informed me. It's harder to find. Cancer or suspicious areas show up on mammograms as white. Dense breasts show up as white and non-dense show up as dark. So when they are looking at the mammogram it's like trying to find a polar bear in snow. If you have dense breasts you should always ask to have the 3-D mammogram.

On January 10th I got the call that there were some suspicious areas in each breast. A small mass (that I never felt) in the left breast and calcifications in the right. I needed to go for the higher resolution mammogram. My appointment was for January 24th. I asked the woman making the appointment if anything sooner came up at any location, please call me. Once I got to the parking lot, she informed me that there was an opening at another location at 2:00 today! I drove to the location and had the test.

After the radiologist reads the results she talks to you right there in the office, there's no waiting for days or weeks for this result. I knew from the look on her face it was not a good outcome. She informed me that I would need to get a Stereotactic Core Biopsy and they could schedule me at the front desk. This is where fear set in. The radiologist said to me, "You need to take care of you now."  Appointment booked for January 18th. 

The hardest part of this journey has been the waiting and not knowing. This is the day that I signed into www.breastcancer.org.  So much information and so many women sharing their stories and helpful hints.

Next blog is one you don't want to miss. I will explain the experience of getting a Stereotactic Core Biopsy. Let's just say I gave it ZERO stars in my Yelp review!