My Journey Through Breast Cancer 

February 12,2013

I wanted to start this sometimes, so I figured that today is as good a day as any.

For a few weeks now, I have been thinking really hard about how best to share my latest journey -one of being a cancer patient. And this was the best  – just say it and go with it. My aim here is to share the experience daily -or close to daily- hoping that my personal feelings will be of help to someone out there who is going through the same thing.

I just want to write what’s on my mind and how it is to deal with the whole situation. And I have a bit of a “catch up” to do here, so first, I am going to back the situation up to when I first found out that I could have breast cancer.

And I am truly hoping that others will join me sharing their story, letting all the good and the bad out -I believe there is a lot to be gained here.

First-since I am now almost half way through the chemo therapy, I will quickly recap how everything happened:

Main reason is that I have been asked a good number of times how I knew I found a lump on my breast that signaled trouble. And I have often in the past wondered about the same thing. There are sort of lumps I your breast anyway -so how do you know which one could be a problem? Believe me -you would know  – its a pretty definite and different feeling-at least mine was. In comparison to your other breast, you would feel the difference.

I discovered mine last week in August -and it was very little -about the size of a pea -I would guess like 1/4 inch diameter. I did pay attention to it and immediately called to schedule a mammogram. Much to my surprise, the date I was given was the end of November -but luckily, in mid October, I had a regularly scheduled appointment with my family doctor. As soon as he examined the lump, he made a few phone calls and I had all tests – mammogram, ultrasound, X-rays,blood work within a week. I also met with a surgeon who very clearly explained what is likely to happen next. It was pretty clear that the lump would have to be removed ,regardless of results of a biopsy which the surgeon ordered.

Surgery was done on Nov.29th and long with the lump, which was now the size of a golf ball, the surgeon also removed 2 lymph nodes.

And then came the hard part – waiting for 2 weeks for pathology results -and right before Christmas.

As difficult as it was, the best thing was to try my best to not think about it -after all, there was nothing more to be done but wait.

Keep checking my daily updates, I will share all my experiences, including how it feels to loose hair, how the chemo treatments affect your everyday life and a whole lot more. And please share – feel free to comment, ask questions and offer your experiences – it will help lot of people!