At 25 I found a lump that was very painful. I went to my doctor with it but because of my age and the fact that I didn't have insurance, after seeing it my doctor told me to just stop drinking coffe and start taking vitamin E. I did both of those things and in 3 months the lump had more than doubled in size. It felt like someone was burning me with a cigar. When I went to another doctor for a second oppinion she looked very concerned. After pulling many strings, Little Red Door paid for me to have a mammogram. They found that there was a blood source going to the lump and scheduled me to have a lumpectomy. The nurse told me not to worry because breast cancer lumps usually don't hurt, plus she had never heard of someone so young having it.
On February 1, 2011 my doctor sat my mom and me down and with saddest, sweetest look broke the news to us. He and his nuse held both of us and cried with us for probably about ten minutes before discussing options. I later found out that I have BRCA 2. Knowing that I had a 50/50 percent chance of passing this on to my kids, and that I had "good" chance of having ovarian cancer I had to make the very tough decision to have a total hysterectomy. I also had to do four sessions of chemo.
In a couple of weeks I will be celebrating being a survivor of 2 years with my friend that was diagnosed the same day by the same doctor. We even have the same birthday. Life is short, sometimes shorter than you think so make the most of it. I try to talk about this as much as possible so people don't keep thinking that breast cancer only happens to women above 50. It happens in women of all ages and men too. We are all in this together, live life to the fullest and keep hope alive!
Shelbyville, IN
