Time Out From Real Estate -- Breast Cancer Awareness

Twenty years ago, I read an interesting article in Mother Jones.  It railed against the practice of women starting to have yearly mammograms at age 40. Dense breast tissue made it difficult to make an informed diagnosis, it said, so women should wait until age 50 for the test.
   Because my aunt died of breast cancer, I began having them at 40, but at age 48, I thought I’d wait for my next screening until I turned 50. Unfortunately, it didn’t sound good to my Ob/Gyn, and so I gave in and went.
   When my surgeon called my office, two weeks later, I figured the news was good. It wasn’t. I don’t remember much, but I do remember hearing the word mastectomy. Not only had they found  cancer in my breast, but I would lose my breast??
   Long story short, I had no lump or any other sign that would have told me something was wrong.  When they did the radio tactic breast biopsy, it showed heavy calcification in several milk ducts which  is an indicator of cancer, and meant a mastectomy was necessary. And then I cried. 
   I had the mastectomy, and as if getting on my feet and back to normal would erase what I’d just gone through, I went back to work in 6 days --- with the drainage tube still under my arm.
   But the biggest shock was when I went to see Dr. Tom Rakowski, a Ridgewood oncologist, to go over the pathology findings. I don’t know how anyone can do what he does, day in and day out, but I thank God he does.
   He told me that when I hit my knees at night, to thank God for mammograms. They pathology had found cancer in every milk duct in my breast --- ductal carcinoma in situ  he called it.  Th cancer was not in the breast tissue itself, which was a miracle considering what he went on to explain.  The pathology also showed it was comedo carcinoma --- referred to as “galloping cancer” by oncologists.
   Dr. Rakowski said comedo carcinoma moves rapidly, and that the mammogram I had planned to skip had saved my life. If I had waited another year, the odds were good I would have died. And, by the way, I didn’t need chemo or radiation. It really was a miracle.
   After counselling women through Reach to Recovery, I can tell you that mammograms have saved thousands of lives.  Please have yours, and encourage those you love to do the same.