Vicky Alderman, Breast Cancer Survivor - The Diagnosis
The Diagnosis
In Oct 2006, my left breast began to feel like there was an ant colony inside. The itching was so distracting that I called my doctor, who ordered a diagnostic mammogram and ultra sound. Of course, nothing showed on those tests, but this time she referred me to the best breast cancer surgeon in the area.
I had located what I called a lump directly behind the nipple in 1999 and at that time, went through a biopsy that resulted in a benign diagnosis. Over the years, the lump increased in size very, very slowly. Every year, at my annual exam, my doctor would look at it and every year nothing would show on the mammogram or ultra sound.
On the initial visit, the surgeon wasn’t sure if it was a lump or a thickening of the oraila.
So he performed a biopsy 11/1/06, which revealed Lobular Carcinoma. Also, he said that scare (from the 1999 biopsy) did not biopsy this lump, but there was no way to determine when the cancer began.
We decided on a partial mastectomy, removing 1/3 of the breast, and a “sentinel lobe biopsy”, which locates the first lymph node. It was removed, tested and diagnosed malignant. He then removed 15 lymph nodes, of which 3 were malignant. This information changed the diagnosis to Invasive Lobular Carcinoma, 2.9 mm kept it at Stage 2.
And so the process began...
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