Earlier this year, right after my fortieth birthday, my doctors told me it was time for my first mammogram. I didn’t take it seriously but did it to check the box ‘done’! A few days after, I was told that I had breast cancer, which led to more tests, and then, a final diagnosis. I was advised that to have the best chance of beating my cancer, a double mastectomy would take my 36DDD breasts, but I would be cancer-free.
When you hear that you have cancer, you don’t realize how strong…or scared you are until you have to face something so life changing. I cried the first time I looked down and saw my breasts weren’t there. If I had waited any longer, though, overcoming this was not promised.
I am lucky, however. I have a great support system, and will have another dance with breasts with an upcoming reconstruction surgery! A lot of women who go through this don’t catch it in time, and they are fighting for their lives on chemo and other harsh treatments; some win the fight, and some don’t. Please do self-breast exams every month!