SARA D – “THE TUMOR CAME BACK POSITIVE…..I HAD CANCER”
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.