Jo Ann’s Journal

I’ve just been diagnosed with breast cancer. 

My name is Jo Ann.  I am 55 years old, have a husband & 2 college age kids and am an accountant for the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  Our mission at NBCF is to help women get early detection of breast cancer through mammograms, because early detection saves lives.  I suddenly find myself betting my life on that statement!

I didn’t choose to have breast cancer, but since I do, I am going to share my experience as I walk through this, in hope that it will help someone else.  As I said, I’m an accountant, not a writer or orator, but sometimes God chooses odd voices.  I do not believe in luck or coincidence, so this must be something I’m meant to do.  I know one person this journal will help – me.  My voice is my own and NBCF is not responsible for my views or emotions as they may be recorded in this journal over the following months.  I will try to be transparent.  Here is my story.

A few weeks ago I signed up for the new Early Detection Plan (see http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/edp/ ) on the NBCF website.  As I filled out the short form, I looked up to see when my last mammogram was.  I realized I was 6 months late on my “annual” mammogram.  Like many women, getting a mammogram is not something I look forward to. In the past I have been bad about doing my “annual” mammogram every 2 or 3 years.   I had committed to myself to be more diligent since joining the NBCF staff.   I was somewhat embarrassed to realize I had again let the date slip so far and I immediately scheduled my routine annual mammogram.

I got a call to come in for a diagnostic mammogram less than a week after my annual mammogram.  I was not worried because I have a history of fibroid tissue and no history of breast cancer in my immediate family.  I have had follow-up mammograms before to confirm that fibroid tissue was not a tumor.  It’s never been a problem. 

This time the diagnostic doctor wanted to follow up the diagnostic mammogram with a sonogram to look closer at the 2 spots in question.  This was something new, but I still was not very concerned.  After all, I knew it was just the fibroid tissue, not a malignant tumor.  I was put in a small waiting room designed for only one or two people, away from the other women in the main waiting room.  I felt like I was being isolated to not upset the other women waiting.    I was beginning to get very concerned.  I only had to wait about 15 minutes for the sonogram.

The doctor mentioned while she was doing the sonogram that one of the spots had changed since my routine annual mammogram 7 days earlier! The diagnostic doctor said one of the spots in question was indeed fibroid tissue per the sonogram, but that we would do a needle biopsy on the other spot.  As I left the diagnostic center, I rushed to my car to call my husband.  This was not going as anticipated.  I took an early lunch before going into the office to get my wits about me again.  I was really shook up and wanted to be calm and stop shaking before I got to work.

My biopsy was several days later.  I would have loved to just stay and get it done that day, but the diagnostic center’s schedule was, of course, already full.    The actual biopsy was not as bad as I feared.  There was only a little discomfort while I got the shots to deaden the area, and no discomfort while the actual sonogram guided needle biopsy was done.  The “needle” was more like a vacuum tube.  I’ve since found out that a needle biopsy is done if the tumor is deep or hard to reach.  I spent the rest of the day at home taking it easy and mostly sleeping.

The next afternoon I got a phone call at work from the diagnostic doctor.  She told me, “The spot in your breast is malignant.  You have breast cancer.”  The shock of those words can’t be expressed!  I felt like the world stopped and I had trouble focusing on what else she had to say.  I felt very isolated in my office, by myself, receiving such a report.  I always thought that you were called into the doctor’s office, and asked to have a loved one with you for support, when such a report was delivered.  She went on to say tumor is small and the cancer does not appear to be an aggressive type.   I wanted to drop the phone, but somehow managed to hang up the receiver in a controlled manner.

I have breast cancer.  My mind is having trouble wrapping itself around that.   I may be the first person whose breast cancer was found because of the new Early Detection Plan program at NBCF.  I keep thinking about all the times I put off mammograms, and what if I had waited another year or more this time.  Logically, I know that this is probably an early detection, and that my treatment should go well, but it still feels like a really, really big deal to me. 

I will survive!  I will thrive!  ~ Jo Ann