My cancer dance began way back in 2009, when I was 27 years old and found out that I carried the BRCA1 gene.\u00a0 At the time it was overwhelming to find out my greatly increased cancer risk for both ovarian and breast cancers, but I know now that this knowledge likely saved my life.\u00a0 For the next 10 years, I was fortunate to be given access to a regular surveillance protocol that included semi-annual mammograms, MRI’s, ultrasounds, blood tests, and physical exams.\u00a0 It wasn’t always easy showing up to those appointments in my late\u00a020’s and early 30’s and having some techs side eye my need for them, but I kept up with the surveillance dutifully for a full decade until December 2019 when I went in for a regularly scheduled MRI. I wasn\u2019t overly concerned, since I had received the \u201call clear\u201d just a few months earlier from a mammogram, ultrasound, and physical exam that July.\u00a0 I even considered rescheduling the MRI to get a jump on holiday travel.\u00a0 Thankfully I didn’t, as just hours after the scan, I received an urgent call to tell me that the imaging had revealed a new 3 cm mass as well as enlarged lymph nodes.<\/p>\n
Given my BRCA1 status and the seemingly rapid rate of growth, it was well understood that this was likely something of concern, and I was sent for a biopsy as soon as I was home from the holidays.\u00a0 On January 8th, 2020, at the age of 37, I was officially diagnosed with stage 2 Triple Negative Breast Cancer that had spread to my lymph nodes.<\/p>\n
I had 18 months of active treatment, including neoadjuvant chemotherapy, a bilateral mastectomy, 25 rounds of radiation, and 6 more months of additional oral chemotherapy.\u00a0 I also underwent a preventative oopherectomy to remove my ovaries and reduce my risk of ovarian cancer.\u00a0 One of the hardest parts of my diagnosis and treatments was going\u00a0through it all at the height of the pandemic.\u00a0 Not only did I attend almost every treatment, surgery, and appointment alone, I also faced uncertainty with treatment options.\u00a0 For example, I wanted immediate reconstruction during my bilateral mastectomy but had to fight and advocate hard for it because the reconstruction portion was considered “elective” at the time – thankfully, it did go ahead as I’d hoped.<\/p>\n
Looking back, I feel extremely lucky to have gotten the level of screening which I did.\u00a0 I have no doubt that my outcome would have been much worse if I hadn’t known about my BRCA1 status and been monitored so closely.\u00a0 Now that many of my girlfriends are in their early 40’s, I strongly encourage them to get screenings and to push for ultrasounds and further imaging if\u00a0they\u00a0have concerns, even if seeing “clear” mammograms.\u00a0 Looking back at the years of imaging reports I had done, including the mammo and ultrasound 6 months prior to the MRI that caught my stage 2 breast cancer, the report always noted, “breasts are dense, limiting assessment” – which I’ve learned makes\u00a0cancers much harder to detect.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so important to advocate for yourself, stay on top of self-exams, and listen to your body.\u00a0 We always hear that \u201cearly detection is key,\u201d but I had no idea how quickly some breast cancers can progress.\u00a0 With breast cancer affecting more and more young women, it is absolutely crucial that it is caught early and taken seriously.<\/p>\n
Today, I\u2019m so grateful to be approaching five years post-treatment and moving toward that big shiny milestone of five-year survivorship and remission.\u00a0 Not every day is easy breezy as I still deal with some lasting effects of the surgeries, some stubborn brain fog, and the joys of entering surgical menopause in my thirties.\u00a0 But, one of my favourite sayings I heard during treatment was, “their story isn’t your story.”\u00a0 Every road is unique.\u00a0 This became even more clear to me as I recently watched a breast friend go through her own breast cancer diagnosis.\u00a0 I couldn’t believe how many advancements had already been made in a few short years.\u00a0 Treatments are evolving, trials are happening, and progress is being made every day.\u00a0 I want others who may just be starting their journey be it as a previvor, a patient, or just entering their survivorship era, that life can be great again!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My cancer dance began way back in 2009, when I was 27 years old and found out that I carried the BRCA1 gene.\u00a0 At the time it was overwhelming to find out my greatly increased cancer risk for both ovarian and breast cancers, but I know now that this knowledge likely saved my life.\u00a0 For…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":97965,"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-97966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n