On February 19th, 2019 I had my world come to a screeching halt when I received the news that I had breast cancer. It one of those moments that the world seems to become incredibly fuzzy, your stomach sinks and you become extremely numb like. I had a head trauma just a few weeks before after fainting during a flu spell and was recovering from a concussion and my senses haven't been at normal levels for quite some time. In fact, the day I got my mammogram was the same day I had a CAT scan to see if my head injury was healed. Good news from my neurologist is that the fracture at the base of my skull had healed, but I then got a call from the Doctor saying I needed to come back in for a follow-up as they were seeing calcifications in my right breast. I scheduled the follow-up, but with my concussion couldn't remember when -- just recalled Wednesday -- so I called and it actually wasn't the day I had thought and they were overbooked and 10 people were on the waiting list. I acknowledged and so had planned on waiting another week until they called back within the hour and said they had a cancellation and were going to put me in the slot. I cancelled my meetings and made the time slot, to then be rushed straight in for an ultrasound, and then immediate biopsy. This was on the 13th of February, the day before my 4th Anniversary to my amazing husband Andrew, who by the way has been a rock star and my ultimate hero during this whole ordeal and could not imagine doing this without him by my side. The wait was excruciating for me, Andrew believed it would all come back clear and said you are tough, you got this and so when Friday came and I didn't get a result I became just a little more worried knowing they were probably running more tests. Then Monday, a holiday and all doctors were out of the office... so Tuesday comes and I am almost now knowing what the call that would be coming would be. It came on my way to take my work team to lunch, "you have cancer". The world stops. I keep driving. My Dr. explains I have a 6mm lump in my right breast that is cancerous. He talks me through what he knows, which isn't much. He then explains that the next few weeks will be the most difficult, that his wife has gone through this over the last year and to "expect the next year and a half of your life to be centered around your health and fighting cancer.” I was grateful for this insight as he was right, you end up waiting for a week to hear what your diagnosis and any plan of action... which we are still finalizing. I have had my world, and my families world, turned upside down --- and know that there are about 1 in 8 women that will have this in their lifetime, that's 12% of the population. I have found the stories of those that have survived help me in my process of being able to understand and move through and my hopes would be that this journal help others as well as my friends come through this journey with me.
