I was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 40: Part 1

Here we are. 

My church family knows this, and of course my family and close friends do as well. But it wasn't something I shared far and wide. I have wanted to share my story. It's not pretty and at times it is pretty painful, I know some of you are walking through this with your own family and friends. Or are going through it yourself. 

This will be a multi-part post. I'll start with the diagnosis. 

I'm a healthy gal. I had three pregnancies and breastfed them all, didn't drink or smoke. Wasn't overweight. There was no family history of breast cancer in my family. Really, no cancer history at all. I made the appointment to have my mammogram just 2 days after I turned 40. I felt strong and healthy and had no clue that I would have cancer. 

I went to the first appointment. Mammogram came back with some dense breast tissue and they really couldn't see everything, so they asked me to come back to get a better one and to get a different type of scan. Did that. 

Got that call that they certainly "saw" something and that I needed to come back for a biopsy. Okay, no worries, this happens sometimes. I went. 

I got the call from the doctor on September 28th, 2022 that my spot was in fact cancer. I remember exactly where I was standing in my bedroom when the call came in. I remember what I was wearing. I remember not being able to talk to the doctor on the phone ( who by the way was very nice) because I was crying so much. So I just squeaked out a "bye" and hung up. I gave myself some time- not a lot, just a few minutes where I could breathe, think and get my thoughts together to call back. I called the doctor back and she was very nice and explanatory. She got me a quick appointment with the breast surgeon in a town about 30 minutes away.