Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

   This journal is about my journey with DCIS which began in January 2024. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ. A form of breast cancer. I didn't tell many people. Family, a handful of close friends. I didn't even tell my bosses at the museum where I teach. Somewhere along the line after much prodding and poking, I decided the My DCIS Journey was too boring so retitled the journal Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob.

The Poor, Little Boob has been cancer-free since June 0f 2024, and still has another year of taking hormone therapy and being monitored by an oncologist. My target date for ending the medication and this journey is June1, 2027

I had called Dana Farber and things seemed to be moving forward. While visiting Teague, she suggested I get a referral from my doctor even though Dana Farber said they didn't need a referral. It wouldn't hurt to cross the T and dot the i and might even be a bit of insurance.

Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

   This journal is about my journey with DCIS which began in January 2024. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ. A form of breast cancer. I didn't tell many people. Family, a handful of close friends. I didn't even tell my bosses at the museum where I teach. Somewhere along the line after much prodding and poking, I decided the My DCIS Journey was too boring so retitled the journal Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob.

The Poor, Little Boob has been cancer-free since June 0f 2024, and still has another year of taking hormone therapy and being monitored by an oncologist. My target date for ending the medication and this journey is June1, 2027

Besides having a department dedicated to treating DCIS, I also wanted to be treated at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute because they had opened up a satellite campus a few towns over from me. I could get the same care, but wouldn't have to travel to Boston. Also, Teague doesn't live too far from the satellite campus so I would be very close to an important part of my support team.

I called the satellite campus, but got weird messages about them being out to lunch (called back 2 hours later and still out to lunch) then you need to call Boston.

I called Boston and was switched to New Patient In-take. The person I spoke to was very helpful. Apparently, there was no longer a cancer surgical team at the satellite campus. She took my information, insurance information, and got the ball rolling by setting up an appointment with a surgeon. She also said I didn't need a referral. Cool. One less headache to worry about.

Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

   This journal is about my journey with DCIS which began in January 2024. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ. A form of breast cancer. I didn't tell many people. Family, a handful of close friends. I didn't even tell my bosses at the museum where I teach. Somewhere along the line after much prodding and poking, I decided the My DCIS Journey was too boring so retitled the journal Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob.

The Poor, Little Boob has been cancer-free since June 0f 2024, and still has another year of taking hormone therapy and being monitored by an oncologist. My target date for ending the medication and this journey is June1, 2027

One thing that I want to mention, that I didn't mention last week, is my diagnosis was found on a routine mammogram and the cancer was caught in a very, early stage. I had no pain, no bumps, lumps. Nothing out of the ordinary. I had no clue anything was going on. So, if you're putting off getting that mammogram, don't! I urge you to keep up with the mammograms. I know it's a PITA, but I'm the poster child for routine mammogram and early cancer detection.

I finally got a call from my primary care and she went over the results of the biopsy and diagnosis. I told her that I would like to be treated at Dana Farber and she said she didn't think that was a problem. She thought many patients from the medical group had been treated there.

Now that my diagnosis was official, there were so many emotions that I felt. Worry, fear, and not knowing what was going to happen. Shock, sadness. Why me? The feeling of being lost at sea and anger because I was not going to have control.

My cancer was caught very early. So reasonable to assume a positive outcome. That also made me feel guilty. What I was going to go through wasn't close to what others had gone through. I had  Imposter's Syndrome. Like saying I had cancer when it really was a hangnail. So that's why I didn't tell many people I had cancer.

Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

  This journal is about my journey with DCIS which began in January 2024. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ. A form of breast cancer. I didn't tell many people. Family, a handful of close friends. I didn't even tell my bosses at the museum where I teach. Somewhere along the line after much prodding and poking, I decided the My DCIS Journey was too boring so retitled the journal Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob.

The Poor, Little Boob has been cancer-free since June 0f 2024, and still has another year of taking hormone therapy and being monitored by an oncologist. My target date for ending the medication and this journey is June1, 2027

I was notified of new test results in the patient portal of the medical group my primary care physician belonged to before I heard anything from my primary care. That's good an bad. The wait is over, but bad because you're reading things that you may not completely understand.

For 7 years, I worked in a hospital laboratory. I started as a receptionist, worked up to an extra pair of hands for some of the departments, I sometimes filled in typing pathology reports from a Dictaphone when one of the medical secretaries was out, I was the computer operator when the lab became computerized, and I was a bench monkey plating specimens in Microbiology. All this to say, I have enough medical background to make me dangerous.

I think I stared at the word carcinoma for several minutes. How could that be? I had no pain. No lumps, bumps, or anything out of the ordinary.

Ductal Carcinoma in Situ referred to as DCIS.  Ever notice how diseases are known by acronyms? I'm with DCIS like I belong to some sort of special law enforcement task force.

A little medical reading got me to the cancer cells are located in the milk ducts and pretty much stay there. DCIS is called Stage 0 or pre-cancer. That made me laugh because it's like being sort of pregnant. You either are or you aren't.

I also found that Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts is the only facility in the Northeast United States that has a program specifically for DCIS. I decided that's where I wanted to be treated. 

Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

 This journal is about my journey with DCIS which began in January 2024. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ. A form of breast cancer. I didn't tell many people. Family, a handful of close friends. I didn't even tell my bosses at the museum where I teach. Somewhere along the line after much prodding and poking, I decided the My DCIS Journey was too boring so retitled the journal Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob.

The Poor, Little Boob has been cancer-free since June 0f 2024, and still has another year of taking hormone therapy and being monitored by an oncologist. My target date for ending the medication and this journey is June1, 2027

Biopsy Day. Himself dropped me off on his way to class. Teague was going to pick me up. 

The biopsy was an hour and a half long. The same machine that is used to do the mammograms was used to collect the biopsy samples. Instead of standing in front of the machine, the machine is tipped on it's side, and you are seated and rolled into the machine. I was numbed up pretty well so didn't feel much. A bit of pressure as the machine inserted a needle in a circular pattern collecting samples from the PLB. The hardest part was sitting still with my left arm draped in an awkward position around the machine. 

I couldn't hear much of the dialogue between the surgeon, his nurse, and the mammogram technician above the hum of the machine. It seemed to take decades, but finally I was released from the machine, bandaged, could get dressed, and sent home.

Teague was waiting for me. It was snowing a bit when we got outside of the building. She said the snow wasn't bad so we went to Owen O'Leary's an Irish pub for lunch. Then she took me home.

And a small plea, my friend and colleague, Andy Fish, found out he has cancer. His cousin has started a Go Fund Me. If you can help out, your kindness will be greatly appreciated. Even if you can't make a donation, consider sharing the link through your social media network. That helps out a lot, too. Thank you. https://gofund.me/87ec3148b

Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

 

I got a call that there had been a cancellation and would I like that appointment earlier in the month? I'm ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille.

After the scan, I had to wait for the on-site radiologist to review it. She said calcification was common in older women. She said if I were younger, she would have me wait 6 months for another scan. She said the calcifications looked suspicious to her. She recommended a biopsy to be sure nothing was really wrong.

Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

 

After seeing the doctor about the mole, I went for a routine mammogram (November 2023) .A day or two later, the imaging center called me. There was some calcification and the radiologist wanted a deeper scan. I thought it couldn't be that bad because the appointment was made for January 2024.

Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob

 

A little bit of a backstory. About the time of the pandemic, the female doctor I was seeing for my primary care physician, had broken her leg, had some health issues so she decided to retire. I didn't want a male doctor and it took me some time to find a female physician who was accepting new patient. I could have easily found a woman doctor if I was looking for a pediatrician. But I finally found one. She was booking appointments six months out! I made the appointment for January 29, 2024.

In October, I called to see her about a mole I had. I have had this mole for a long time. At one point, I had it burned off, but it came back. So, the color looked odd. As it turned out, it was just a mole.