In 2007, my mother was diagnosed with Stage 0 DCIS in her left breast. Her prognosis was excellent-mastectomy with reconstruction, no chemo or radiation. Her recovery was long due to reconstruction with her own tissue, but she was cancer free. There was no history of breast cancer in my family, and I was only 32, so my OBGYN was not overly concerned, but he suggested that I begin getting yearly mammograms just to be safe. I went for my yearly exams and did self exams diligently for the next six years. It was my mammogram from August 2013, at age 38, that changed everything.
I got the call that I needed to return for a follow-up mammogram on a Tuesday. By Friday, I was having a biopsy done to rule out cancer based on 5 tiny spots, no larger than a dot from a pen, in the exact same location that my mother's cancer had been found 6 years before. I was mentally preparing myself for the worst, but hopeful that it was just a precaution.
On September 11th (this date now has a whole new meaning), I received the news that I also had DCIS. I met with the oncologist the next day, my husband by my side, and discussed the options. I decided that I wanted my risk of recurrence to be as small as possible, so I opted to have a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. This decision turned out to be the right one when weeks later I learned that I carried the BRCA-1 gene. This led to some other important decisions as now my risk for ovarian cancer was higher.
On October 22, 2013, I had my bilateral mastectomy and a bilateral oophrectomy at the same time. The recovery was long, but I was cancer free. No chemo, no radiation. Just reconstruction which was completed on June 13, 2014.
I have been spreading the word about getting mammograms! It saved my life. With my history, If I had waited until age 40, I would be telling a different story...
Burlington, MA