October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this year, I have more of a reason to celebrate and honor breast cancer survivors because now I am the daughter of a recent breast cancer survivor.
In June of this year, my mom told me that she found a lump in her right breast. She said that her family physician said that the radiologist recommended that my mother have a breast biopsy.
When she told me, I immediately texted the doctor I work with, Dr. William Gibson, because he specializes in treating patients with breast cancer. I knew that I wanted my mom to have the best care, so I told her that she would be coming up to Knoxville for treatment.
My mom’s breast cancer timeline:
May 10th {her birthday} – felt a lump, called her doctor, said it could be just a cyst and to watch it for a few weeks to see if it changed any
June 12th – she called me to tell me she felt a lump, had a mammogram, and was told that she needed a biopsy
June 14th – I took the images of her mammogram and ultrasound to the ParkWest Breast Center and both Dr. William Holmes and Dr. Amanda Squires said she did in fact need a breast biopsy
June 17th – my mom had her breast biopsy
June 18th – breast cancer diagnosis confirmed; it was invasive ductal carcinoma; hormone receptors were pending
June 19th – both my mom and dad met with Dr. Gibson, and he reviewed everything with my parents; hormone receptors confirmed that her breast cancer was estrogen positive, meaning that her breast cancer was feeding off the estrogen in her body {she was ER+, PR+, and HER2 negative, but her Ki67 was at 25%, meaning it was an aggressive, fast-growing cancer}
June 20th – breast MRI, to determine a more accurate size of the tumor and to see if there were any suspicious lymph nodes
June 26th – my mom’s case was discussed at breast conference; none of the doctors in the conference, except for Dr. Gibson, knew that this “patient” was my mom; this was the first time that I really sat up and listened to every minute detail that the doctors brought up in what my mom would possibly need done, from surgery to radiation to possibly chemo
June 28th – went with my mom and dad to meet Dr. Joseph Meyer, radiation oncologist, who said my mom was not a candidate for partial breast radiation, that because of the size of her tumor {2.5-3.2cm in size}, she would have to have whole breast radiation
July 1st – mom’s pre-admission appointment
July 18th – mom’s surgery… a right partial mastectomy with right axillary sentinel lymph node biopsy and adjacent tissue transfer with Dr. Gibson
July 24th – per Dr. Gibson, we ordered an Oncotype test on my mother’s tumor to see if she would benefit from having adjunvent chemotherapy
July 31st – mom’s post op appointment; Dr. Gibson had to drain a seroma, but that’s not unusual {she only had to come back one more time to have it drained}
August 8th – mom’s appointment with Dr. Hesamm Gharavi, medical oncologist; she was put on a medication to help with her night sweats and told to follow up after she completed whole breast radiation.
August 21st – met with Dr. Lisa Virostek, in Cleveland, to review the plans for radiation; she would only need a short course of radiation {16 whole breast treatments and four targeted treatments}
August 22nd – mom went back to Dr. Virostek for planning and mark-ups {meaning that they put little markers around the breast where they plan to target the radiation}
August 27th – mom first day of whole breast radiation
September 24th – mom’s last day of radiation
October 4th – mom met with Dr. Gharavi again and he prescribed an aromitase inhibitor, Arimidex, which she will take for 10 years
My grandma Lashlee {my mom’s mother} had breast cancer, and with my mom’s recent diagnosis of breast cancer, that means I’m was now at an increased risk of developing breast cancer. Mom did have genetics testing, and thankfully, it came back negative, meaning we don’t have a genetic disposition for the BRCA {breast cancer} genes.
I’ve always had “lumpy, bumpy boobies”, and was told I had dense, fibrocystic breasts. I guess I can say that I got that from my momma 🙂 I have even had multiple cysts drained, which doesn’t hurt if you have a good doctor who knows what he’s doing. But now my spidey-senses are on high alert.
For several years now, Dr. Gibson and I have worked closely together, along with our amazing coordinator, Cindy, to provide our patients, and more specifically our breast cancer patients, the quality treatment that need, and hopefully our patients feel like we do it in an expedient and efficient manner.
A diagnosis of breast cancer can be devastating for some women. Some may need neoadjuvent chemotherapy before they can even have surgery; some may need chemotherapy after surgery; most will need some kind of breast radiation {whether it be whole breast radiation or partial breast radiation}.
Some women have estrogen-driven breast cancers, while some women’s breast cancer is not estrogen-driven. Some older women have “a younger woman’s breast cancer” and some young women have “an old lady tumor”. And some women have a genetic predisposition to developing breast cancer, meaning they are BRCA positive {a.k.a. the breast cancer gene}.
There are different kinds of breast diagnoses… from simple cysts and benign fibroadenomas to atypical ductal or lobular hyperplasia. Then there are progressions in the disease process that moves up the scale to full blown breast cancers. And even in that diagnosis, there are varying degrees and types of breast cancer.
What I’m saying is that breast cancer does not discriminate. It doesn’t care if you’re old or young, married or single, white or black, straight or gay, female or male. It just doesn’t care! One in eight women will get breast cancer in her lifetime. You just have to be diligent in getting your annual mammograms.
Or if you feel a lump, get it checked out immediately. It may be something as simple as a cyst or a benign fibroadenoma. But don’t just brush it off… get it checked out!
Honestly, I know too much that I could probably make your head explode. I care about you as much as I do your breast health! So my point to all of this is this — get your boobies checked out ASAP!
On behalf of my family, I would love to say a special and heartfelt “THANK YOU” to Dr. Gibson and my Premier Surgical family {specifically “my Cindy”} at our ParkWest office, as well as to Dr. Meyer, Dr. Gharavi, Dr. Virostek, as well as to all the wonderfully nice nurses and doctors at Parkwest Medical Center and the Parkwest Breast Center. Words cannot express my gratitude for their care of my mom this past summer.
Thankfully, my mom is now a breast cancer survivor!
Yours Truly,
Vanessa
1 Comment
Thank you baby girl. I love you!!!