Day 7 – My Healing Journey

I had always sworn that I would never undergo chemotherapy based on friends that had gone through it and suffered immensely and based on movies I had seen depicting how dire it was. I had decided that it would never be an option for me.

Fast-forward to another oncology appointment where my son and the oncologist outlined all the reasons why I should consider it based on my scores and test results. 

I still couldn’t wrap my head around it so I chose to give myself a break and to think on it some more and make my final decision after I had the surgery.

The day finally came to meet my surgeon and it didn’t disappoint. She was a lovely woman and also very compassionate and kind. We talked about the bug bites and the fact that one of them never healed and when she looked at my right breast, she diagnosed it as Paget’s disease which is a rare type of breast cancer involving the nipple and the areola.

In the back of my mind, I wondered why she could instantly come up with that diagnosis as my general doctor had continually told me I would be fine visit after visit and not once suggesting that I get tested.

At that moment I was so glad that I had chosen to fire my doctor and I was so grateful for getting the referral to come see this doctor.  Despite the reason for the visit, I was feeling very grateful for the team of doctors I was surrounding myself with and for the first time since my diagnosis, I felt like things were going to be OK.

She indicated that since the lump was right below the surface behind the nipple, they would need to remove it. I told her she could take the whole breast but she said that was a little too severe.  She said since the other lump was larger but benign that I could choose to leave it alone, but I told her I would feel much better about getting both of them out of my body completely.  Thankfully she agreed.  Now it was just a waiting game for the day of the surgery.