My breast tissue was very dense, and I also had breast lumps come and go throughout my life. At the age of 54, I again noticed a lump. But it didn\u2019t seem to go away this time. I was worried, so in May 2019, I went to my family physician. He examined me and said \u201cIt rolls around between my fingers, it\u2019s moveable. It\u2019s a cyst. What do you want me to do about it?\u201d\u2060<\/p>\n
I am a nurse, so my physician lets me be very involved with my medical decisions. But, I don\u2019t feel like he would have pushed me into following up. I said, \u201cI would like to have an ultrasound\u201d. I remember standing in the hallway at home second guessing myself. I remember thinking what a waste of time, should I go? I am sure this is nothing.\u2060<\/p>\n
First, I went for a mammogram in June of 2019, which showed nothing. Next, I had an ultrasound and I was told that I have three lumps, it\u2019s cancer, and that I needed to get a biopsy right away. An MRI followed in July, but it did not show my cancer. The biopsies on the 3 lumps, which had been seen on the ultrasound, proved there to be two cancerous lumps and one benign lump, and my official journey began. I was told that my cancer was stage 2a.The wait for my surgery was the hardest thing that I have ever been through. Everybody prepares you for chemo but no one talks about that wait. My husband and I cried together. I felt like I could feel the cancer growing inside me. I knew the odds were in my favour, but I still thought about my children and my will. August 19, 2019 was the date of my surgery, and I had a double mastectomy by choice. What followed was 4 rounds of chemotherapy, and 15 radiation treatments ending January 24th 2020. It was a difficult journey mentally and physically, but I now believe that I am cancer free.\u2060<\/p>\n
I am proud because I was strong, I advocated for myself and trusted my instinct. I want to tell every woman out there, especially if you have dense breasts, to trust yourself. Know your own body and don\u2019t doubt the changes that you feel. If a mammogram or MRI doesn\u2019t show anything, don\u2019t be sure that you are cancer free. Watch for symptoms, do self-examinations, be cautious, listen to advice but advocate for yourself.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Mon tissu mammaire \u00e9tait tr\u00e8s dense et j'ai \u00e9galement eu des grosseurs au sein de fa\u00e7on intermittente tout au long de ma vie. \u00c0 l'\u00e2ge de 54 ans, j'ai de nouveau remarqu\u00e9 une grosseur. Mais cette fois, elle n'a pas sembl\u00e9 dispara\u00eetre. J'\u00e9tais inqui\u00e8te et, en mai 2019, je suis all\u00e9e voir mon m\u00e9decin de famille. Il m'a examin\u00e9e et m'a dit...<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n