I Have Breast Cancer

I am starting this blog to keep my family, friends, and those near and dear to me updated on the new challenge in my life. It has taken me 5 long days to even face the reality of what is happening to me, and it is very hard for me to talk about. Deep down I know I have hundreds of people who love, care, and deserve to know this news, so here it goes.. "Hi. I'm Angie. I'm 33 years old, and I have Breast Cancer."

Sounds shocking right? Trust me, I am as shocked as you are. I know everyone has questions as to how this came about and what is going to happen. So here is where it starts. Last Monday December 7, 2015 I had a normal appointment scheduled with my gynocologist for a pap smear and physical. I went in as normal hoping to walk out with a new prescription for birth control and the ok to come back in 3 years. During that exam my doctor found a lump in my breast. She didn't like how it felt. I personally never noticed it before hand, and even if I did I would have passed it off as tissue under my nipple. She referred me to the Breast Clinic to have a mammogram and ultrasound take a look. I had to wait until Thursday December 10th to be seen by the Breast Clinic here in Waterloo. I was a little concerned, but tried not to panic. I woke up Thursday morning a bit uneasy about the whole thing and the panic began to sink in. I asked Ryan if he would come with me, because I was scared. He of course said absolutely so he went in with me. Thank God he was there because that appointment quickly became the worst 4 hour appointment of my life.

I had a mammogram, followed by an ultrasound. I saw the tumor on the screen and another spot they were focusing on and I think at that point my body went into shock. The radiologist came in and reviewed the ultrasound himself. He then looked Ryan and I and said "I am really sorry to tell you this, but I just tell it how it is. This looks very much like a breast cancer to me, and I am very concerned about it." At that point I KNOW my body went into shock. I walked around for 2 days after that like I was in an out of body experience. They biopsied my lump and lymph node in my armpit. The next day they called to confirm both had tested positive for cancer.

Here is what I know at this point about my labs. What I have is Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. This is the most common form of Breast Cancer (80% of breast cancers). There are 3 Grades to this cancer (I, II, and III). Mine is a Grade III, which unfortunately is the most aggressive and fast growing. Yesterday, my nurse navigator called and my labs also tested negative to Estrogen and Progesterone receptors. What does that mean? Well it means that my cancer is not feeding off of these hormones. There is 1 other hormone called HER2 which is some kind of protein receptor that is being tested, however they do not have that "stain" back to see if that is fueling the cancer. I will not know that til later this week. How these results come back will of course tell us how we are going to treat it.

I have a lot of unknowns at this point. I am having an MRI on Thursday, and will meet with an oncologist and breast surgeon next Monday and Tuesday. Getting thru these next 2 weeks will be very difficult. Not knowing and waiting is absolutely awful. I also plan on looking at a second opinion (just for a piece of mind to make sure I am doing and making the right decisions for me).

I hope many of you will find this blog helpful on keeping up with where I am at. The wonderful thing is I have so many friends, a loving family, and I already know you are all here for me. I am terrified to die, and I am not ready to die, so I am going to fight hard! I owe that to Ryan, Kyla, and Cruze. They need me in their lives and I want more than anything to be in their lives. This will be my longest blog I am sure, but its a lot of information to talk about with everyone. I believe in myself, I am a positive person, and I know I can do this! I ask you all to have faith in me, pray for me, and continue to love me (even when I don't have boobs, hair, and look like an alien from chemo). That's all I can ask!