When Sen. Claire McCaskill announced her diagnosis of breast cancer on Monday I couldn't help but think about four years ago, in June 2011, when I was first diagnosed.
Now my thoughts and prayers are for her to find comfort and peace in the journey to becoming a breast cancer survivor.
I was so encouraged to know that her breast cancer was detected through a routine mammogram--meaning that she was getting her annual mammograms. I hope the senator's tumor was detected in the early stages when it's tiny. My tumor was slightly advanced.
Seven months before I felt the lump in my breast in the shower I had my annual mammogram. I remembered telling technicians that when I was stressed, I would feel an odd sensation in my left breast--but not in my right breast.
Unfortunately, like almost half of all women in the United States, I have fibrosis. That means I have lumps in my breasts that are perfectly harmless. Radiologists suspect that my small tumor was hiding behind a larger fibrosis lump of tissue and did not show up on the digital mammogram.
Fighting back
My treatment began at the Cancer Institute at Saint Luke's Hospital with chemotherapy to shrink the tumor then a lumpectomy to remove it--followed by 33 radiation treatments.
Eight months after beginning treatment I was finished! I returned to work on January 1, 2012. I remember how sick I was following chemotherapy treatments: I didn't want to eat and I lost my hair (it did not come back so I wear a wig).
I have slight neuropathy (decreased or abnormal sensations) in my feet a form of lymphedema (swelling) in my left arm, so I'm not able to lift much weight with my left arm.
Life is not the same; but I'm okay with it--because I am alive and I have my health and I'm able to be with my family and enjoy working and remind other people to get their mammograms and do their breast self-exams.
Claire McCaskill said she's a little scared but her prognosis is good. I would encourage her to continue focusing on the positive--endure the negative (the pain and changes to her body), to rely on her faith and do everything doctors tell her to do.
One day soon she will cross the finish line and be as grateful and humble as I am to be a breast cancer survivor! Go Claire! I'm pulling for you!
Diagnosing breast cancer
In researching the topic, I learned that mammograms do not find all cancerous tumors.That's why I'm such a fan of a new technology called Tomosynthesis. It's creates a 3-D image of the breast using X-rays.
Much like a deck of cards, the radiologist can select an section of the breast image and examine it individually. For fibrous women, the radiologist can look behind those mostly harmless tumors to see if something of concern is hiding behind them.
The technology is not without critics. Some say Tomosynthesis will lead to too many false diagnoses and result in too many unnecessary biopsies. Mammograms are also known to provide false readings.
MORE: What the National Cancer Institute says about mammograms
I can tell you that for me, the only diagnostic imaging I have is Tomosynthesis or 3-D imaging--especially because now I have scar tissue from surgery, and I want doctors to examine every inch of my breast to make sure nothing is lurking behind the scar tissue or fibrosis lumps of tissue.
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