Past mammograms showed suspicious shadows but no lumps. Ultrasounds showed what looked like water balloons. A needle biopsy came back negative - nothing wrong. The technicians seemed concerned but the diagnosis was always cysts. Then one day right before my 50th birthday I was throwing the ball for my dog and had awful pain in my right breast. I made an appointment right away but almost canceled it because the pain went away. My primary care physician sent me to a surgeon who sent me for a needle biopsy. Got a call the same day that I had breast cancer. It was lobular. The size of a Roma tomato and never picked up by a mammo or ultrasound. Never go for a biopsy on Friday the 13th! It's been five years since I started chemo.
My mother was diagnosed with bilateral breast cancer two years later. Also never picked up by mammograms. She had both lobular and ductal.
We both have a BRAC variation. Not the mutation usually followed, but a variation. Now I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop - cancer in the left breast or ovarian cancer? Which will it be?
I wouldn't want to repeat the treatment, but would if necessary. I definitely have a different outlook on life - don't sweat the small stuff or worry about how clean the house is. Enjoy life, friends, lovers, pets, beautiful flowers.
Copperopolis, CA