Michelle Piano Michelle D. Piano

In late spring/early summer, I found a lump on my left breast.  After seeing both my primary doctor and my GYN the agreement was made that a regular mammo was not going to be sufficient since nothing had shown up on them thus far.  A special mammo and an ultra sound were ordered - both showed the lump that I found and an additional suspicious area.  The next step was a biopsy and on Augus 19th I was formally diagnosed with breast cancer. 2 different kinds. DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ) and IDC (Invasive Ductal Carcinoma).  I had several additional biopsies, including lymph node biopsies and an MRI to make sure they knew what we were dealing with.  I gathered all my tests, got my first opinion and then second opinions - all doctors agreed on what needed to be done, so rather than trekking into NYC for all my appointments I chose to stay in NJ where I trusted the doctors just as much as I trusted the NYC doctors.  I chose to have a double mastectomy with a diep flap reconstruction.  The choice was a rather radical one, but it should mitigate a great deal of the occurrence risk - I would much rather do this now than ever have to do this again.  My surgery was on October 18, 2016.  Since then I have had one additional surgery to resolve some issues from the initial surgery (December 5, 2016) and while I am still in a decent amount of pain, i have no doubt that I will make it through this stronger than I have ever been.  Everyone on my health team has been incredibly kind and I have no doubt all will be ok.  Please check back here to find updates on my journey.  Thank you all for your support.  I couldn't do this without my friends and family by my side.