I found the lump in my left breast. I was doing my monthly self breast exam, and there it was. But I'd had lumps before. In fact, I'd had one removed in that same breast a few years ago. I had enough sense to call right away to make a doctor appointment so that my new lumpy friend could get checked out. My wonderful doctor decided it was time for my annual mammogram. She wanted to do a sonogram as well since we could both feel that little suspicious pebble hanging out in my breast. The first sign that I should be concerned was when the sonogram technician spent triple the amount of time on my right breast than she did on my left breast. Even my untrained eyes could see the dark spot that appeared with every pass of the wand. But the real kicker was when the mammogram technician called in two other technicians to help her look at the lump of surprise that was hiding out in my right breast. Even when my doctor called and said I needed a biopsy, I still felt like the results would show that I was a bit lumpy but nothing was wrong. The date of the biopsy was July 2nd. On July 11th, my phone rang. It's never a good omen when the doctor's office manager calls and says, "The doctor wants to see you right away." It's especially ominous when it's 10 o'clock on a Friday morning. I don't remember much, but I remember my doctor's first words, "There's no easy way to say this. It's cancer." I remember hearing my doctor talking, but I couldn't understand anything she was saying. I remember the taste of tears in my mouth and someone handing me a box of Kleenex. The cancer was possibly in both breasts. That's weird, right? Three days later, my fiance left. He couldn't handle what I had to go through. I had a bilateral mastectomy on September 23rd. I still have a long way to go, but nothing scares me anymore. I've got this.

Marla
Lindsay, CA