Written by Brenda McNeill
My breast cancer journey began with a routine mammogram in August of 2019. I was 59 years old at the time and had been having yearly mammograms for 15 years. Prior to August of 2019 I had never had an abnormal mammogram or any benign breast disease.
At my appointment the tech asked if I had any concerns or changes in my breasts. I told her that I did have an area of tenderness in my right breast and over the past few weeks that area felt “different” but I could not feel an actual lump. We proceeded with the mammogram that morning and later that afternoon I received a call from the breast center stating that something was seen on my mammogram. They said it was most likely nothing, possibly a cyst but they wanted me to come back for an ultrasound. During the ultrasound they were not able confirm that the nodule seen on my mammogram was a cyst so we proceeded with biopsies of that area. 48 hours later I received the call that the biopsies were positive for invasive ductal carcinoma.
I later learned that my cancer was not hormone positive but a rarer more aggressive form of HER-2 positive cancer. HER2-positive cancer tends to be poorer in terms of prognosis than HER2-negative cancer because it grows faster and it is more likely to spread to the lymph nodes faster. Over the course of the next few weeks my family and I learned more about my breast cancer and what my treatment options would be. Because I was Stage 1A (meaning tumor was small and localized to the breast) I choose lumpectomy with radiation to treat the cancer followed by chemotherapy to lessen the likelihood of reoccurrence. After 18 months of surgeries and treatment I am now cancer free.
During my treatment I learned a few shocking statistics one being that 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer and many will have no family history.
I am forever grateful that my cancer was caught early. Research clearly shows that women who have regular mammograms are more likely to have breast cancer found early and are less likely to need more aggressive treatments.