Dealing With Breast Cancer at 26

After being invited to blog for Patch.com I tried to figure out where I would begin my story and what purpose this blog would serve for both myself and others. Throughout my breast cancer experience, my purpose has been to educate others that breast cancer can strike a woman at any age, even at 26, which was shocking to many.

The purpose of this blog shall be to not only educate readers on breast cancer, but to educate them on how breast cancer impacts the lives of women under 30. One of the most frustrating pieces of my breast cancer journey was never finding any substantial information on breast cancer in women under the age of 30. Statistically this age group is clustered with the 40 and under age group, thus eliminating any possibility of finding out exactly how many women under 30 are affected each year.

There are many guesses out there and it is generally assumed that around 1-1.5% of all women diagnosed each year are under the age of 35; again nothing for women under 30. The
American Cancer Society estimates that approximately 207,090 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in 2010. This means that approximately 2,000-3,000 young women 30 and under were diagnosed in 2010 in the United States.

The lack of research into what causes breast cancer in young women is alarming, but researchers are beginning to make great strides in studying the make-up of tumors (it has been found that these tumors are biologically different than tumors from older women) and there are studies out there that look at not only the impact of breast cancer on a young woman’s health, but also on her entire life (socially, financially, etc.).

Breast cancer negatively impacts a younger woman’s financial footing, especially if that woman is under of uninsured. It also negatively impacts dating and relationships and self-esteem, especially after losing one or both breasts. But I shall start at the beginning and touch on these subjects during subsequent postings.

I found my lump in October 2009 after performing my first breast self-exam. When I found the lump I had a gut feeling that something wasn't right. I finally went to the doctor at the end of December to have it checked out because the lump wasn't going away. I was referred to a surgeon at Middlesex Hospital who performed a lumpectomy on January 25th, 2010.

I had a 2 week follow up appointment scheduled with my surgeon but received a phone call
from her office on January 26th asking if I could come in on the 27th to meet with the doctor. It was only later that I discovered that no one ever wants to get the last appointment of the day when a doctor says they have test results to review. My mother accompanied me to my appointment on the 27th and when the surgeon came in she said “we found cancer, or actually you found cancer.”

That gut feeling I had when I had found the lump disappeared. I would have to follow up with a barrage of testing over the next several weeks and meet with an oncologist and plastic surgeon. I expected to walk out of my surgeon’s office the day I was diagnosed knowing what stage my cancer was, but that’s only something that happens in the movies. Part of my tumor had been removed during the lumpectomy but not all of it and I wouldn’t know the true extent of how large it was until I had a mammogram and MRI.

I remember expressing one of my fears to my mother as we were leaving the surgeon’s office
that afternoon: “I barely have any life insurance.” A very real fact is that I won’t be eligible to buy life insurance for a very long time. I wasn’t staged and at that time wasn’t sure if I had years or months left and yet my first thought jumped to financial matters.

I had bone scans, breast MRI’s, CT scans and genetic testing to endure and was certainly relieved when I learned that the cancer had not spread past my right breast. Armed with test results, opinions from my surgeon, plastic surgeon and oncologist, I had to make a surgical decision. How does a woman, of any age, come to terms with telling her doctor that she wants to have a mastectomy? How does a 26 year old woman give her consent to have a breast
removed?

I did hear from people that it was only a breast. Realistically they were right and that’s mainly the mindset I adopted. However, I was still deeply saddened by the thought of a future wedding dress not looking quite right because my breasts were no longer the same or not feeling like a whole person after surgery, especially since society in general places so much attention on "the girls."  After many consultations I felt empowered to make a surgical decision based on the information that all of my doctors provided. I didn’t feel like I was being told what to do but rather like I was a part of my own treatment team.

I remember having a phone conversation with my surgeon where I informed her that I wanted to have a right simple mastectomy with immediate reconstruction and that I wanted a port placed. It almost sounded like a fast food order. "Can I have a mastectomy, with a side of reconstruction and a port?" And could the medical world have come up with a different word to distinguish between simple and radical mastectomies?

There sure wasn’t anything simple about it to me! The port, short for portacath, is a small medical device placed under the skin. The catheter that is attached connects the port to a vein and this devise allows patients to have blood draws and chemotherapy without the stress of trying to find a vein. Blood draws have never been easy for me and since I would be unable to use my right arm (the only place that I apparently have veins) for blood work after surgery, this seemed like a no brainer. Surgery was scheduled for March 16th, 2010 with a definite
hospital stay involved.

Since my initial diagnosis was behind me, I was facing the next set of challenges, which made hearing that I had cancer and all those uncomfortable tests I had endured a walk in the park. Drains, allergic reactions and attempting to regain use of my right arm would be the next set of hurdles.