I was diagnosed with locally advanced left sided breast cancer, invasive ductal type – estrogen / progesterone negative / HER2 positive  stage 3 breast cancer in June of 2010.  It was six weeks after my baby boy was born.  I found the lump about two weeks after he was born, but passed it off as a clogged milk duct because he had refused to feed from my left breast.  As the tumor grew   I felt no pain, I knew it must be something else.  My friends who had experienced mastitis from clogged milk ducts told me that it was very painful and this lump wasn’t.  By the time I went to my PCP, the tumor was approximately 6 centimeters,  she was immediately concerned and sent me to have an ultrasound, which ruled out the fact that it was only a cyst.  They immediately sent me for a biopsy and when those results returned, my life was turned upside down.  The tumor came back positive…. I had cancer!  Within weeks they told me I would need to start weekly chemotherapy treatments.  Then came daily doses of radiation.  I underwent multiple chemotherapy treatments, eight weeks of daily radiation and several surgeries to remove my left breast and lymph nodes.   I chose to have immediate muscle flap reconstruction.