On Tuesday, March 8 just before noon, I recieved a call from Dr. Graham, the radiologist who did my biopsies the previous Wednesday. She said, "I have bad news and good news. The bad news is you have breast cancer. The good news its in the milk ducts and we caught it early. [She added] I want you to have a breast MRI to determine if any cancer is in the other breast." She also mentioned that usually both the surgery to remove the cancer and breast reconstruction happens at the same time. She didn't say mastecttomy but I took it as a strong possibility. 

How did I get here? I didn't have my yearly mammo in 2020 due to the pandemic, and finally decided in November of 2021 to schedule one. The earliest available was Dec. 31, which I booked. After about three weeks, and a call to the mammography center, I finally got a call from the center saying that my left breast films were not clear... that there was movement. Now, I'll have to say, you can hardly move an inch when your breast is in a vice that's flattening you like a pancake! However, I went back to the center and had another mammogram--just one film this time--it looked clear to the technician, and I even looked at thinking it looked good too. A few days go by and I get another call saying that the film still isn't clear, so they wanted me to do a diagnositic mammogram at Virginia Baptist Breast Imaging Center. That one would take a couple hours start to finish, but I would have the radiologist's findings before I left. We scheduled that appointment for Feb. 21. 

At the diagnositic center, I was taken back to the mammogram room, took off my short coverup and my left breast was once again pulled and prodded in a vice like grip for several different orientations. The tech sent the files to the radiologist and after about 15 minutes returned and said they needed more photos, and this time they would have to tighten the grip a little more! Thankfully, my breast didn't explode or stay flat after that final release. Again I waited about 10 minutes before the tech and the radiologist walked in. Seeing the Dr. too meant something wasn't good. Dr. Graham told me there was no mass, however there were calcifications that could be nothing, or precancerous, or cancer. She recommended two biopsies, one deeper in my breast and one closer to the nipple. 

I was not prepared for that! It didn't occur to me that I could ever have breast cancer! I had my two children young, breast fed both, and except for one cousin on my mother's side, no one in our extra large family had ever had breast cancer. 

I was scheduled for the biopsy on March 2 at 7:30 a.m. Larry took me on that beautiful sunny crisp morning. After I checked in, he left to go get breakfast and I was ushered back to get prepared for the biopsies. A nurse took my blood pressure and said she would be with me during the procedure, and another nurse soon joined her as well. I must have waited at least 30 - 40 minutes before the Dr. was able to join us. My biopsy would be done while my breast was in the mammogram machine. I was situated on my right side for the first biopsy, which took about 20 minutes to be sure they had the right location to place the biopsy apparatus. I was most concerned about the numbing shots, however, those didn't hurt much at all. It probably helped that I was being squeezed when the injections were administered. The noise of the machine was loud, like a big sucking noise, but I didn't feel a thing. When the Dr. knew she had a good specimen, they released me from the mammogram, and then resituated me in a sitting position for the second one. The process was the same, and thankfully the injections didn't hurt too bad. The second one was quicker and I was finally released from the grip of the mammogram machine. The Dr. told me it would take approximately five days for the lab to get the results back to her. Four business days later, Dr. Graham called with the news. 

Since that announcement, I now have four additional appointments. The first is the breast MRI, which is done at Lynchburg General, and is scheduled for March 16 at 6:30 a.m. It's a fairly long one (45 mins.) so I'll take an Adavan to relax me. Larry will drive me over. The next appointments are the following week. On March 22, I will meet with the medical oncologist, Dr. MacCallum, for one hour, and then with a genetic counselor who will take my blood for genetic testing and will talk with me about the genetics of my cancer. That will take another hour. The last two appointments are scheduled for Friday, March 25. First with Dr. Ploch who is the surgeon, and then Dr. Wilson who is the plastic surgeon. All these appointments and the results of the genetic testing will help me and the medical team determine the best course of action. Although these Drs. have come highly recommended and have done excellent work for other women, I may decide to get a second opinion from UVA (they have the best breast cancer center in the state). 

Oh, almost forgot, my husband and I have shared this news with most of our family now, and our Village family. They are all super supportive and are praying for us both. Between my family, my Village and my faith in God, we're going to get through this, and it will continue to be a very good day!