Detecting Breast Cancer

If you are thinking about skipping your mammogram this I suggest you don’t. Why? Because by the time you can feel a cancerous lump in your breast, the cancer has been in your body for two to five years.

I didn’t have a mammogram last year and almost didn’t have one this year. I was just tired of the yearly uncomfortable squeezing and mashing of my breast.

However, when I told my doctor that I would skip the yearly procedure, she asked me about my sister, who had died ten years ago, only days after she was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer on her seventh birthday.

“Won’t you be turning seventy? she asked. It sounded odd to me because I don’t feel seventy. Actually, I have been working on a story for my seventh birthday called “Age is Just a Number.”

The morning I was supposed to go in for the mammogram, I received a call saying my brother had died during the night in his sleep of COPD, a lung disease that blocks airflow and makes it difficult to breathe.

I was upset and decided to cancel the mammogram, but my husband insisted I keep the appointment.

I was asked if I wanted the 3-D mammogram instead of the usual 2-D mammogram. The 3-D Mammogram creates a 3D image of the breast, which has been shown to improve breast cancer detection by 27-50%.

Not all insurance will pay for it so the patient is informed that they will submit the claim but the patient may have to pay for the additional cost, which is not much and worth it.

I started to say no but changed my mind and said yes.

After the mammogram the technician said, “Hmmm, I think I see something new,” I brushed it off and said it was probably scar tissue. I had a previous biopsy for what turned out to be a benign tumor a few months after my sister died.

While we were out of town for my brother’s funeral, the doctor’s office called three times but didn’t leave a message. I subconsciously knew that wasn’t good, but I had so much more to think about. My brother was the last of my ten siblings. He was divorced and had not been close to his children, so I wanted to help with the final arrangements.

When I got home, the doctor’s office called to set up an appointment.

There was a lump, and they wanted to biopsy it. I had done self examinations but had not felt a lump in my breast.

And that’s the thing we don’t realize. It can seem like a lump appeared out of nowhere–especially if you are your doctor have recently examined your breasts and not felt anything suspicious–but in reality, the cancer has simply doubled that one last time necessary to be noticeable.

Breast cancer, as most cancers, begin as one malignant cell, which then divides and becomes two bad cells, which divide again and become four bad cells, and so on. It has to divide 30 times before it can be felt.

Up to the 28th cell division, neither you nor your doctor can detect it by hand. With most breast cancers, each division takes one to two months, so by the time you feel it has probably been in your breast two to five years.

Mammograms are important for all menopausal women to get regular mammograms.It is true that not all breast cancers can be diagnosed through a mammogram, but it is our best defense against breast cancer because it can detect the disease in its early stages, before it can be felt during a breast exam.

Ten days later I had a breast biopsy procedure under local anesthesia to remove a small sample of my breast tissue for laboratory tests.

When my husband and I went in for the follow up results, my fist wanted to examine the incision, where I had a breast biopsy.

She said the biopsy site looked good. After she asked me how I was doing, she said, “Unfortunately I have some bad news. The biopsy results are positive for a malignant tumor in your breast. “

My thoughts went back ten years earlier, when a doctor in Georgia said to my sister’s family and me, “Unfortunately, she has cancer that has metastasized from her breast to her lungs and liver.”

After a few moments, I realized that my doctor was still talking. Suddenly, I needed to take the mask I had worn into the office off to breathe.

My husband and I were stunned. “However, fortunately it is a very small Ductal Carcinoma that does not appear to be invasive. I think we can remove all of the tumor in one surgery.”

I had to wait another ten days for a surgical lumpectomy to remove the malignant tumor. At first, I couldn’t say I had breast cancer. I just said I had a tumor in my breast, but there was a very still moment when I stopped and said, “I have breast cancer.”

I began to think about all the people I know who have cancer. I have stood beside them, prayed for them, comforted, and encouraged them as family, a friend, nurse, and a pastor’s wife, but I never truly understood how they felt when their doctor said, “Unfortunately, you have cancer.”

Until now.

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