Be demanding

I have stage 4 breast cancer. It has metastasized to my bones, liver and breast. Metastatic breast cancer is cancer that originates beyond the breast to other organs in the body. At age 28 I was given a 1-6 months to live. There is no cure, I will never be in remission and cancer free is not a phrase in my vocabulary. I receive "maintenance chemo" every 3 weeks. That is the longest my body and my cancer can go without chemo. Without chemo, I will most likely die within a year. Chemo is prolonging my life and allowing me time with my family.

I receive CAT scans every 3 months of my whole body. The next likely areas it spreads is to the lungs and brain. That terrifies me. 

 This is my second diagnosis of breast cancer. 26, I was first diagnosed. I was not performing self breast exams. I was too young to get cancer. I have no family history of breast cancer. 

I was hurting in my breast, shooting pains to my nipple and my left breast was "leaking", discharging. My Mom got excited thinking I was pregnant. I took 3 pregnancy tests. Two breast ultrasounds showed nothing. Self exams did feel a lump and it was solid. Finally a mammogram showed up a suspicious lump. The breast biopsy revealed breast cancer. I went in for a double mastectomy and expansion for implants the day my girls started school.

They said they "got it all" and I was not recommended for oral chemo with a pill, radiation or chemo. I was seeing my oncologist who performed his own self exams when I went  in for "check ups." When asked what to look for in case of a possible reoccurrence  he said I would SEE, FEEL a bump on the outside of my skin. 

Ladies and gents it DID NOT go down like that. Now, I did have a tiny bump near my implant that they believed was scar tissue and has been confirmed scar tissue from my mastectomy. It did not originally   hurt me nor could you see it. What the dr told me to look for. What hurt was my side, Ih ad shortness of breath. I had trouble sleeping, getting comfortable. THE DAY I went into the hospital and diagnosed with stage 4breast  cancer I had just left the Oncologist who sent me home to keep an "eye" on my scar tissue with the idea of opening my breast back open yo break up the scar tissue. I cried, sobbed for 45 minutes from my dr to home and demanded my husband to take me to the  hospital because something WAS WRONG! I went into the hospital with orders to have my gallbladder removed and came out of the hospital with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. 

I don't know if you have heard or seen but I just turned 30, haha. I made it to 30!  You know I'm not even old enough to qualify for a mammogram if I were not diagnosed with cancer previously. And before turning 30 I've been diagnosed twice. I will die with breast cancer. 5 months. Insurance protocals at my age and no family history makes you start from the least restrictive, invansive measure. Dont get me wrong I dont want them to start cutting away on me first but 5 months of being undiagnosed is too long. 

Know your body. You do know your body the best so listen to it. If something is NOT right get it checked out! Demand answers! Be your own advocate. I would be dead today if I stopped advocating for myself and ignored the pain. First step is self breast exams! Get your mammograms if you're eligible. But DONT stop there FOLLOW THROUGH!