Many of you know that my Mom is a breast cancer survivor. I wanted share the story of the day she was diagnosed.
Thursday August 4, 2005
My Mom went in for a mammogram and they found a lump in her right breast. She was then sent in for an ultrasound, which confirmed the lump and gave the doctors a clearer picture of the size and location. The radiologist then performed a needle biopsy, where they inserted a needle into her breast and removed tissue in order to examine it under a microscope to determine if, in fact, it was cancer. The radiologist told my Mom that because of the location, her age (45) and the fact that she was pre-menopausal that she was 99% sure it was cancer, but that she would have the official report back on Friday. My Mom called Eric, who was at home with Syd, and he talked to her the whole way home. Her next call was to me. I remember getting a call at work and thinking, “Oh no, something must be wrong with Syd.” I’ll never forget the panic in my Mom’s voice when she said, “The doctor thinks I have breast cancer.” I felt like all of the wind had been knocked out of me. I couldn’t get out of work fast enough. I had just received the worst news of my whole life. What did this mean? How bad was it? Oh, my poor Mom. What are we going to do? I had only been back from maternity leave for two weeks. Syd was a tiny baby (She was just over 3 months old). I finally got to my Mom’s and gave her the biggest hug of my life. Thankfully, the doctor had left her number and offered to let my sister and I call and ask her any questions we wanted. We did, and afterwards I felt a little more informed, but still really scared. We still weren’t sure the stage or the exact type, but we would know for sure the next day. So Friday finally arrived and we got the dreaded phone call that confirmed what the doctor had suspected. My Mom had Stage 2 Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma. The next step would be to contact an oncologist and a surgeon, but those are stories for a different day.
I’m planning on sharing different stories from each stage of my Mom’s fight against breast cancer. I will also mix is a few funny kid stories to keep it light, but I want the focus this month to be on breast cancer awareness.
Thursday August 4, 2005
My Mom went in for a mammogram and they found a lump in her right breast. She was then sent in for an ultrasound, which confirmed the lump and gave the doctors a clearer picture of the size and location. The radiologist then performed a needle biopsy, where they inserted a needle into her breast and removed tissue in order to examine it under a microscope to determine if, in fact, it was cancer. The radiologist told my Mom that because of the location, her age (45) and the fact that she was pre-menopausal that she was 99% sure it was cancer, but that she would have the official report back on Friday. My Mom called Eric, who was at home with Syd, and he talked to her the whole way home. Her next call was to me. I remember getting a call at work and thinking, “Oh no, something must be wrong with Syd.” I’ll never forget the panic in my Mom’s voice when she said, “The doctor thinks I have breast cancer.” I felt like all of the wind had been knocked out of me. I couldn’t get out of work fast enough. I had just received the worst news of my whole life. What did this mean? How bad was it? Oh, my poor Mom. What are we going to do? I had only been back from maternity leave for two weeks. Syd was a tiny baby (She was just over 3 months old). I finally got to my Mom’s and gave her the biggest hug of my life. Thankfully, the doctor had left her number and offered to let my sister and I call and ask her any questions we wanted. We did, and afterwards I felt a little more informed, but still really scared. We still weren’t sure the stage or the exact type, but we would know for sure the next day. So Friday finally arrived and we got the dreaded phone call that confirmed what the doctor had suspected. My Mom had Stage 2 Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma. The next step would be to contact an oncologist and a surgeon, but those are stories for a different day.
I’m planning on sharing different stories from each stage of my Mom’s fight against breast cancer. I will also mix is a few funny kid stories to keep it light, but I want the focus this month to be on breast cancer awareness.
1 comments:
Its crazy to hear all of that all over again! Im just glad its 3 yrs. in the past! But its great to share stories, especially this month!!
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