This is the first entry of my breast cancer journey, so let’s start right at the beginning with my diagnosis.
In October 2021, I turned the big 40 and celebrated all of the amazing things in my life with my family and friends. Part of turning 40 meant that I needed to be proactive and get my health checked. I went and had a skin check and had a general health check and all was great. My next health check was a mammogram. A close friend of mine had recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and it was because of her that I finally booked in to having my first mammogram. On the 12th of January I went and had my first ever mammogram and then continued on with my life without even a second thought. On the 19th of January, I was at work and I received a phone call from Breast Clinic informing me that my mammogram had come back with a cloudy patch on my right breast that looked different to the rest of my mammogram results and as it is my first mammogram and they had nothing to compare it to they would like me to head to Hobart on the 21st for further testing.
On the 21st of January, I made the four hour drive to Hobart for my appointment. To begin with I had a chat with the breast care nurse and she explained the process for the day. Basically most people have a 3D mammogram and an ultrasound and then the breast cancer doctor will take a look at the scan and then if all clear you are out the door. If further tests need to be done then a core biopsy would be the most likely test to be performed. So with that information I felt comfortable in knowing what was coming up. I was then called up for my mammogram and ultrasound. The doctor then took a look at my results and informed me that because my breast tissue is quite dense she couldn’t tick off all of her criteria that says it is not cancer. The lump that has been identified is sitting 5cm deep behind my nipple and the doctor informed me that she felt very confident that it was a cyst and so she would perform a test where she would place a needle into the lump and try to break the skin so that the liquid would come out of the cyst and the lump would change shape on the ultrasound proving that it is a cyst. This was slightly difficult as it was hard to reach the lump with a needle so after going in from a couple of different directions the lump was finally reached and unfortunately it didn’t change shape. The next step was then to perform a core biopsy. Three of these were done to make sure a sample was taken from the lump. The doctor informed me that she thought it was a cyst but it’s not so she was thinking it is most likely going to be a benign lump called a fibroadenomas. So I left my appointment feeling like everything was going to be ok.
On Thursday the 27th of January I headed to the doctor by myself, not feeling that concerned as I was thinking it was going to be benign. This was not the case. The doctor informs me that the lump is malignant and I have breast cancer. It was very overwhelming and unexpected. I had no signs or symptoms, simply got a mammogram because of my friend’s experience. The lump is so deep that it can’t be felt. If I had of waited to get signs or symptoms then the cancer would have been a lot further along so I am so thankful this has been picked up now. The doctor informed me that it would take one to two weeks to hear from the surgeon. The whole situation was surreal. It didn’t really sink in until I told my family.
The following day I had a call from the surgeon’s receptionist to book me in for an appointment. So much for one to two weeks but I was happy that things were going fast. An hour later the surgeon rings up and tells me that she has been going over my results and I have been diagnosed with a triple negative cancer which is extremely aggressive and that I will be needing to have chemotherapy for the next six months before my surgery. My heart sank getting off the phone as things just seemed to be getting worse. I then started googling which was possibly the worst thing I could do.
My next blog will go into more details about triple negative breast cancer and my first appointment at the surgeon.
Please if you are reading this and are 40 years plus then make sure you get a regular mammogram.
I have decided to write this blog to journal my experience, keep anyone who wants to know my progress up to date rather than having to relive the experience multiple times by having the same conversations and to hopefully pass on breast cancer awareness and maybe help save someone else’s life through early detection.
I’m Following you all the way Tamieka. You are so very courageous. I can’t even start ti imagine the physical and mental roller coaster you are going through right now. Sending positive thoughts.
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