My Story....to date.

Part 1

So, you know how amazing it feels to have your 3 year old run up to you and give you a huge hug? The best feeling ever...right? Well, that is exactly what my son did one day shortly before Christmas this last year. He'd done it dozens of times before, but this time was different, this time...it hurt. I flinched a bit, but not enough to end the glorious hug I was receiving from Matthew. Once he turned around and took off running, as 3 year olds often do, I immediately put my hand where I felt the pain. I didn't have to search at all, there was a large lump in my left breast. At first I thought, well that's weird! I'd had swollen glands before, but this was much harder and really hurt. I didn't put much thought into it after that, I just hurried to catch up with Matthew, who by this time was yelling after me, "Can't catch me!".

The next morning, I woke up and felt a dull pain. Again, I felt my left breast..yep, the lump was still there. Oh well, I had other things to think about. I was still dealing with my migraines and because of all the constant meds I'd had over the last year, I now had high blood pressure to deal with. I knew I had a neurologist appt. coming up and after that, if the lump was still there, I'd make an appt. with my general. Another week went by. I had the appt. with my neurologist, where at that time, my blood pressure was so high, they made me an appt. to see my general doctor.

Finally, on January 14, 2009, I went to see my general to do something about my continued high blood pressure. I was pretty upset about this because I knew it was caused from all those migraine meds and nothing else. Now I would have to take another medication for BP...not happy! So, I spoke to the dr. about my BP and "..oh yeah, by the way, I've had this lump in my breast for about 3 weeks now, can you check it for me?". Which of course, he did. He didn't have to search for it either, it was very obvious. He asked me if I'd ever had a mammogram, which just turning 40 in November, I had not. He told me he was scheduling me for one right away. "How long before I get an appointment do you think?" I asked. "You are going now, immediately! I need to you drive to Kaiser in Panorama City, to get an emergency mammogram & ultrasound. They will be waiting for you." I'm thinking, ok wait, I was just supposed to see you about my BP, now I'm having an emergency mammo & ultrasound? I called my husband Scot and explained it to him. He left work immediately and met me at the hospital. We ended up being there for about 4 hours. I had 3 different sets of mammograms taken and 2 ultrasounds. By the time we left the doctors office, it was obvious I had a large mass (apricot size), but we didn't know what it was. I think at that point, I knew.

I was scheduled for a biopsy for the following week. It wasn't super fun, but not so horrible either. I wasn't nervous...it is what it is...right? The doctor said it was 24-48 hours before we would get results. Well, this was a Thursday and if they didn't get back to me on Friday, then I would be waiting all weekend. Scot took the call Friday night, I wasn't even home. He told me later that night that the doctor wanted to see us first thing on Monday. I remember him crying when he told me, but I didn't cry at all. I just kept saying, "It's ok!".

continued in Part 2