Leea's Story from California

My story begins when I was 26 weeks pregnant with my 3rd child (a miracle himself as he was conceived on my deceased father's birthday (per due date calculations) and while on BIRTH CONTROL!)

I was 33 yrs old, and found a lump in my breast. Having a family history of cancer I asked to have it checked. After a chorus of "you're too young to get breast cancer" and "it's just the changes associated with your pregnancy" I got referred for an ultrasound "to make me feel better." Results were benign.

Two months later, my mother had a routine mammogram and they found micro calcifications, a biopsy shortly thereafter confirmed early stage breast cancer. A few weeks after her diagnosis, I found another larger lump in the same breast. This time the doctor was concerned and referred me to a surgeon for a biopsy.

The night before my appointment I found a smaller lump under my armpit on the same side. The male surgeon immediately said it was a 'milk cyst' or blocked milk duct which would resolve itself after the baby began nursing. The lump in the armpit was a result of the infection and would also resolve itself. After expressing my concerns, the chorus of "you're too young, blah, blah, blah" began and he said there was nothing he could do until after the baby was born anyway. I asked if he could perform a needle biopsy of the armpit and he agreed to, but then almost left without doing it. The results of the needle biopsy came back abnormal.

NOW everyone was concerned, but said to wait until after baby arrived. I requested to be induced (I was 38 weeks anyway). I got an appointment to be induced on 9/11/06 and told the doctor NO WAY! So she had me scheduled to go in on the 10th. The hospital called me on the 9th and said they had a bed and asked if I wanted to come in early. THAT NEVER HAPPENS! I agreed and a healthy 8lb 7oz boy was born on September 10, 2006 (rememember he was two weeks early?).

My kids' pediatrician came in and asked about the breast cancer scare. She immediately referred me to a fabulous oncologist and surgeon at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and made me promise to call. I got out of the birthing hospital on a Monday, went to see the surgeon for the follow up of the biopsy on Tuesday at which time he told me that it's a 99% chance I have breast cancer.

I stopped nursing my baby and he needed to do an excisional biopsy to confirm. He just so happened to have a cancellation for Wednesday morning at 6am. I took it. Before surgery I nursed my baby for the last time, then the surgeon asked if I wanted a port placement for chemo if it is cancer. I said yes. I had just given birth, was a 33 year old mother of three, ages 4, 2 and newborn, my mother has just been diagnosed with breast cancer, and now I HAVE BREAST CANCER.

I was truly overwhelmed and could not stop crying.
The next day, I went in for the first surgery and woke up with a port in my neck. By this time, I know I have cancer.

He referred me to a local cancer center but the doctor was on vacation. They said he will call me when he returns. I called the doctors at Cedars and they scheduled me for September 21, 2006 for consult, which is perfect because my pathology report was planned to arrive on September 20.

I talked to the surgeon who told me we "caught it early" but "chemo will clean it all up." He said I will require a mastectomy and seemed taken aback when I requested a bilateral mastectomy.

The following day, a Friday, I met with my new oncologist at Cedars. After reading all the reports, he contradicted EVERYTHING the surgeon said, it was NOT caught early and he is concerned it may have spread to bones,etc. He immediately scheduled scans and chemotherapy for the following Monday. He also said that when a pregnant woman has breast cancer it is often caught late because the body's natural changes mask the cancer.

The scans were clean, so I started chemo that afternoon. Ironically the local cancer center called AFTER I finished my first chemo session and said they could set up the appointment. No thanks.

After three months of chemo I had my bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction. After recovering I began another six months of chemo for cleanup, which I finished in June of 2007.

Unfortunately, I had a recurrence in a supraclavicle neck node and found out that I had a breast cancer gene (BRCA 1). Currently, I am a lab rat for a promising new treatment that goes straight to the DNA. I haven’t had any major side effects and after eight weeks. The scans came back CLEAN.

During all of this I have managed to continue being an active mother (not that I have a choice!) to my now five, three, and one year old with the help of a loving, supportive hubby and family. I returned to work in May of 2007 and work part time as a probation officer. I learned to not sweat the small stuff and enjoy every precious moment. I resent cancer and grieved for the longest time, but finally realized that the things I was grieving for have not come to pass. Things like missing my kids' first days of school, high school graduations, weddings and so on.

Cancer has taken away my innocence of my own mortality, but it has given me the ability to appreciate what I have in the here and now. I will be 35 next month and I have crammed a lifetime of experiences in the last year: new baby, cancer, chemo, surgery, reconstruction, work, etc. The fear and uncertainty I will have for the rest of my life, I just hope and pray it is a LONG, LONG, LIFE. In retrospect, it seems like this whole experience, from giving birth, to diagnosis and then treatment in less than 3 full weeks means somebody upstairs was looking over my shoulder and making sure things were getting taken care of. I just hope that my story brings awareness and helps eradicate the myth that young women don't get breast cancer.

Bakersfield, California