Take this walk with me...

On August 7, 2017 I received news that I truly never thought I would hear. 

I can still hear my doctor's voice telling me "unfortunately it's a breast cancer". I'm not sure I heard anything else she said after that. It was a 4 minute long conversation, but it felt like 4 hours and I don't think I took a breath the entire time, and I actually feel like I haven't since.

How is this possible? There is NO known family history. I am just less than 46 years old, healthy and educated about breast health, I eat pretty well, I take vitamins and I exercize (sometimes)!?! 

It all started in January, I had some unusual pain that was pretty consistent. I was working as a Medical Assistant at the Saint Vincent Cancer & Wellness Breast Center at the time, so I asked our Nurse Practitioner to check it out for me. She felt nothing, but ordered a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound.  Nothing conclusive was found, I attributed it to changes due to hormones; after all, I'm 45 and peri-menopause could start at any moment, right? The radiologist wanted me to follow up in 6 months; she wanted to keep an eye on something. It turns out that what she wanted to watch actually did develop into something evil. I had my follow up ultrasound on Thursday, 8/3/17, the radiologist immediately suggested a biopsy, which was done the next day. By Monday, my doctor called me with the preliminary result. It was the "c-word".

This is where the next path in my journey was taking me...

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Take this walk with me?