A Look Back

legaljen1969

In a short few weeks, it will be the 4th anniversary of the ONLY time I have been called back to have follow-up imaging done after a mammogram. It will be the 4 year anniversary of the day the word "cancer" became a part of my life and my body.

I don't know a woman alive who has been called back for imaging, or asked to stay for a few more images, that does not know the anxiety that starts to rise.

I don't know a person who has had cancer as part of their life who does not dread the follow up examination and whatever scan or test first revealed the presence of those unwanted cells. Why? Because we now know it's possible. We now know it's not always a clean scan or blood test or whatever.

Let's talk about what I really didn't know. I really didn't know just how small the cancer in my body could be and still be detected. My breast cancer was detected by a mammogram LONG before I could have or would have felt a lump. It's important to go for those mammograms. Early detection really CAN save lives and also make the "treatment" much less invasive.

I didn't know that radiation and/or chemotherapy wasn't a "given" in everyone's battle. That was a huge relief. I have been treated with Arimidex (an aromatase inhibitor) since February 2020 and I have tolerated it well.

Looking back, I am so thankful for my very positive care team. None of them made this feel scary at all. I felt so comfortable with the radiation oncologist, and once the decision was made to go with a mastectomy, that took the radiation component off the table. I mean, I didn't WANT radiation but I felt like I would have been in good hands if I had to have it. I was almost sad that this doctor was no longer part of the "team."

My original medical oncologist treated very conservatively and wanted to do the least invasive thing that could still yield effective results. I was thankful for someone who didn't start with a scorched earth perspective.

My surgeon? Oh, she was my first contact after I found out I had cancer and she was the most unbelievably confident and calm person. She was very matter of fact and debunked a lot of the craziness I had already started to reveal in my journey down the rabbit holes on the internet. She and her nurse were then, and remain, my calm place in the storm.

I am most thankful for the fact that my surgeon was not in a "rush" to do the surgery (we were scheduled for a family Christmas cruise for my 50th and my father's 80th birthday. I didn't want to have to cancel the cruise) but encouraged me to keep moving. As soon as Christmas was over, we moved ahead at a rapid pace. I had a lumpectomy in mid-January- followed by mastectomy late February. Then recovery. I went back to work and within a week after my return, the nation went into lockdown/quarantine for COVID. Surgeries were stalled. Hospitals were in panic mode. Most beds were reserved for COVID patients, anticipating this was going to be an almost apocalyptic situation. I am so thankful I was able to have my surgery before COVID locked us down.

It all seems a bit surreal now. But I am so thankful for every step along the way that my path was made less difficult.