Hope, Healing, and the Road Ahead

The bruise from the biopsy looks bad...but it didn't hurt!  The surgeon I selected to do my lumpectomy has her patients undergo a breast MRI . She uses the detailed imaging of the breast tissue to as sist w ith her surgery planning. While a breast MRI is a valuable tool in certain situations, it's not a standard part of every breast cancer diagnosis. In fact, I know several women who have had breast cancer recently and who never had an MRI.    In my case, I’m especially grateful that the MRI was done. My original mammogram came back as abnormal in both breasts. As a result, I had a follow -up ultrasound and bi-lateral biopsies. The original biopsies came back positive for cancer in the right breast and negative (or benign) in the left breast. That felt like a small win at the time...at least I didn't have cancer in BOTH breasts!    On Ju ne 5 th I went in for my MRI and an ultrasound of my right axillary area to ass ess the lymph nodes and lo...

I had my bi-lateral biopsy on May 15 th, th e day before my cardiac ablation. The same radiologist who performed my ultrasound the week before also did the biopsy . Because I needed to have both breasts biopsied , the procedure took about an hour and a half .    The radiologist used ultrasound to locate the area of concern in both breasts and marked the best spot for the biopsies. Local anesthetic was injected to numb the area and then he made a small incision where the biopsy needle was inserted and began taking several samples and le ft a marker clip when he was done .    Throughout the procedure I chatted with both the radiologist and the technician assisting him . After the procedure I had a mammogram to confirm the proper placement of the marker. Despite a bit of bruising and mild pain, it was an easy procedure, and I was back to work within a few hours and hangin g out with family who were in town to visit .      The samples were se...