Beginning of June my world flipped upside down when I got a call that I had DCIS in my left breast. A cancer that is considered non-invasive or pre-invasive if found in time as it’s localized to the milk ducts. Imperative it’s found in time before it has the chance to spread, thus it could become stage 1-4. For the month of June I sat with the agony of knowing I was undergoing a bilateral mastectomy end of the month & also not knowing if mine had become invasive or not based upon the initial MRI. Even more difficult; my doc visits & hospital stay were alone due to covid. (Stay tuned for a piece I’m finishing on Cancer amidst Covid) Four days after my 1st surgery, I received news that they had removed the cancer in time. The pathology was what we prayed for. I will not need to undergo radiation or chemo which was most certainly on the table at that point. Also informing me that I needed to have another surgery beginning of August to remove a final marker. Which in turn will require additional reconstruction for me. I’m thankful beyond words the cancer is removed and I don’t need to go through treatment. I still have quite the journey of recovery & reconstruction but I’m finding so much more light amongst such dark days.
I feel inspired to share this especially with the month representing breast cancer awareness month. As I learned in all this, If you’re 30+ when you have your first child, your risk of DCIS is about as a high as someone with a first blood relative with breast cancer. Yes breastfeeding helps the odds. But as a woman who got pregnant at 30, gave birth at 31 & breastfed my son for about 10 months, I feel the news is imperative to share. If I help one woman get a mammogram or finally get a lump or a weird pain checked out, it’s worth the share.
🦋 More to come on my journey and how my self-breast exam caught my cancer.
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