Today is the one year anniversary of my diagnosis. And I got quite the anniversary present. I found out the biopsy I had on Monday was benign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does this feel like deja vu? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s backtrack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I messaged Dr. Brufsky\u2019s office earlier this summer to let them know I felt a hard spot by my breast surgery scar. I didn\u2019t know if it was scarring or something more. To be safe, they sent me for a mammogram and breast ultrasound, which I had last week (the earliest they could be scheduled – not soon enough for my liking!). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The radiologist said there was scarring and possible fat necrosis, \u201ca condition that most commonly develops after an injury or trauma to the breast tissue,\u201d according to Breast Cancer Now. \u201cA lump can form if an area of fatty breast tissue is damaged, for example during a biopsy or surgery. Necrosis is a medical term that describes damaged or dead tissue.\u201d However, she said there was an area that didn\u2019t fit all the characteristics. Based on my history, she wanted to be on the safe side, and was sending me for a biopsy. She said there was less than a 10% chance that it was something concerning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said I also qualified for a research study, to which of course I said yes! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My biopsy was Monday at Magee. I was told to show up an hour early for the research study. After waiting for quite some time, I checked in with the front desk to make sure I hadn\u2019t missed my name being called (a very real thing if you\u2019re deaf!). Turns out the doctor did everything but actually sign the script, and they were having trouble getting that sorted. I went up to the Women\u2019s Cancer Center to see if that would help, but by the time I got there, they\u2019d already sent the signature down!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All this is to say, I was at Magee\u2019s for a LOT longer than anticipated, because the research study and biopsy all had multiple steps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What is the research study, you ask? The brochure calls it a \u201cprospective assessment of contrast enhanced mammography to reduce biopsy rates.\u201d Did you know that four out of five biopsies done annually are negative for cancer? \u201cThis study is intended to evaluate if some of the findings that currently require a diagnostic exam or biopsy can be correctly identified as benign, thus saving women unnecessary breast procedures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An IV was placed, and x-ray dye (the same kind used for a CT scan) was injected before the mammogram. This is the kind of dye that spreads warmth throughout your body and makes you feel like you\u2019re peeing when you\u2019re not. It\u2019s fun!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The weird thing is the brochure said participants aren\u2019t paid, so I wasn\u2019t expecting to get $75! I would have done it regardless!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The numbing shot was the worst part of the biopsy. The \u201cclipping\u201d or the taking of samples was a lot more tolerable than last year. I don\u2019t know if it was the location, tools, or doctor, but I\u2019ll take it! Then I had to ice the area for 20 minutes every two hours for the first 24 hours (and longer if possible). I also had to wear a tight bra, like a sports bra, and avoid showering for 24 hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The nurse told me results would come in four business days. The doctor said two. The nurse warned me not to Google if I saw information in the portal, and suggested waiting for their phone call. But you know me \u2014 I was going to look!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So when the write up of the procedure came in, I read it, and yes, it freaked me out. I saw the part about \u201cbi-rads\u201d and the grading. I looked this up \u2014 the scale is from 0-6, with 6 being a known cancer. One was 4, \u201csuspicious,\u201d with less than 10% chance of it being malignant. The other was 4b, \u201cmoderately suspicious,\u201d with more than 10% and less than 50% of it being something. Oh, and apparently I\u2019ve had a nodule that\u2019s been stable since it was spotted on a 2016 mammogram. No one ever told me about it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ack!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I vented to Thrivers, and one of them said she\u2019s had half a dozen of these biopsies and they\u2019ve all been fine. I guess this is the new normal once you have breast cancer. Still, that was reassuring. Tell that to my body, however! I\u2019ve already been having difficulty sleeping because of menopause (if I don\u2019t get my period by mid Sept, I will officially be in menopause as it\u2019ll have been one year!), and the wait certainly didn\u2019t help! I kept trying to focus on the positives. Like the report saying the suspicious area seemed to correlate to the stable nodule. That sounded like it could be ok? Or the fact that I had everything done to this breast this year, and just finished treatment June 1. Could something really grow that fast? Probably, but I was grasping at straws here!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I even told myself, if I\u2019m ok, then dealing with being an empty nester surely can\u2019t be as bad (that was a lie).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last night was the worst. My anxiety manifested in my stomach and I had intense stomach pains that kept me up most of the night. My stomach still hasn\u2019t settled! I was tempted to check to see if anything had come in, but held off until I had to get up. That\u2019s when I saw the pathology report, which was a bunch of medical gobbledy gook. I saw a couple of things that seemed promising. Then I realized I had a message from Brufsky\u2019s office. It was the PA, letting me know that the biopsy was benign.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Holy shitballs, did I need that!!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What a hell of an anniversary present! Aw, cancer, you really didn\u2019t have to get me anything!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, to recap, a year ago today, I found out I had breast cancer. Today I found out it hasn\u2019t come back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Happy Anniversary to me!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today is the one year anniversary of my diagnosis. And I got quite the anniversary present. I found out the biopsy I had on Monday was benign. Does this feel like deja vu? Let\u2019s backtrack. I messaged Dr. Brufsky\u2019s office earlier this summer to let them know I felt a hard spot by my breast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":442,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions\/442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inmyhead.com\/wordpress\/fcancer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}