Blindsided by Breast Cancer

I had just graduated from Auburn University in May of 2022 with a degree in Computer Engineering. I had moved back to Texas and begun my career at an R&D firm in San Antonio. I was just trying to figure out how to “adult.”

Then one extremely typical Sunday evening, I felt something in my right breast that was off.

After watching my mom battle DCIS breast cancer when she was 39, I knew enough to call the doctor the next day. The process began with an appointment with an OBGYN, then completing an ultrasound, and next a breast biopsy.

On December 29th, almost 3 weeks after I found something, I received a call telling me that I had “grade 3 ductal carcinoma.”

I was pissed.

I also didn’t know what the f*ck that meant.

Within 12 hours I was back in Fort Worth sitting in a surgeon’s office listening to her explain that I had Stage 2 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma.

She went on to explain to me and my parents that unlike my mother’s breast cancer, mine was fast growing and would require chemo, surgery, radiation, and hormone blockers following treatment for up to 5 years.

I was confused.

I thought I was stage 3?

The surgeon went on to explain that I had a 3cm tumor that was stage 2, grade 3, estrogen receptor positive, and HER2 receptor positive.

The fact that stage and grade were two separate indicators entirely was news to me.

On a list of things I did know after the appointment was:

• I was going to lose my hair

• The timeline for treatment was a year

• I was not going to be back in San Antonio anytime soon

Unfortunately, it was now December 30th and we had been the last at the clinic that day. That meant that we had 3 days of waiting.

Offices opened on Tuesday for the start of the New Year, in my mind that meant that the abstract timeline of a “year” for treatment started then too.

Let’s get this over with.

F*ck, I have to tell my friends…