Kelly discovers a lump in her breast
It was summer 2006, and my life looked like all the pieces were slipping into the right places. At 29, I'd landed a job I loved, teaching Grade 2. My husband, Mark, was almost ready to graduate with his PhD in biology. And that Mother's Day, a year into our marriage, we had decided it was the right time to start trying for a baby.
Then I found a lump in my breast.
When I told Mark, he went white. I tried to pretend I wasn't freaked out and told him not to worry. Still, I made an appointment to get it checked out. And in the pit of my stomach, I knew something wasn't right: the lump was big and hard and just didn't seem normal.
Inconclusive tests
My doctor wasn't concerned, though. "You're too young for breast cancer," he reassured me as he sent me for an ultrasound. Inconclusive. Next it was a mammogram. Inconclusive. Next up: biopsy. By now, I was worried. It had been two months since I'd first seen the doctor and it seemed ridiculous that we couldn't figure out what this was. And the worry was putting a damper on my good news: I was pregnant.
As the technician did the biopsy, I turned to him, hoping for some kind of reassurance. "You see lots of these things. Does this look like anything to you?"
He paused for a second and said, "I don't think you should be worried." I let out a breath of relief, one I felt I'd been holding since I'd first found the lump. Still, I knew nothing was certain until the final results were in. When I called a week later, a receptionist told me they'd come back negative. Mark and I were so happy! Now we could focus on the good news: our baby.
Miscommunication
Then, on Sept. 13, everything changed. After work I headed to my doctor's office for a happy reason: a pregnancy checkup. When he came into the office, I said, "OK, we know the lump is negative, but what are we going to do about it?"
"Who told you it was negative?" he asked me. Somewhere wires had been crossed: the receptionist shouldn't have given me results -- especially incorrect ones! I'd thought I was coming in for a pregnancy checkup, but my doctor thought it was the followup appointment for the biopsy. That's how I found out I had breast cancer: he pulled up the results on his computer screen, turned it toward me and pointed to where it said "carcinoma."
Click to continue for Kelly's reaction to the news...
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