Of Course. I Still Want the Biopsy.

About a thousand women will hear 'you have breast cancer' today. Most of them won't see it coming. I didn't either because I was 39 with no family history. I’m 5 years out from my first breast cancer diagnosis and 4 years from my second.

3 years before my initial diagnosis I started creating body care rituals through Sanara. Honestly, I didn’t think it was that special at the time, just doing what I usually do, wash my body with my bar of soap but as I washed my skin I took that opportunity to let the slick from the soap to aid my fingers in feeling every lump or bump and change in texture with intention. Then when I got out of my shower I would use my body oil or body butter to moisturize my skin again, feeling every lump or bump and change in texture with intention. 

I had no idea how this very simple act became so profound for my life when it was during one of these daily rituals that I first felt the change in texture of my left breast. That was January 2021 and while I wasn’t alarmed at first I was just curious because I had been familiarizing myself with my natural ebbs and flows of just being a woman with changing breasts. In March my alarm bells were going off because I had watched it long enough and what I was feeling wasn’t something I had ever felt before.

I’ve spent most of my career in women’s health and so I knew how this worked. You don’t just ignore it. You get answers. So, when I was finally getting my mammo and ultrasound for this thing I was feeling, I knew no matter what, unless it was completely obvious it wasn’t breast cancer I was getting a biopsy. That’s the only way I would know.

When my mammo and ultrasound came back inconclusive I asked for a biopsy. The radiologist knew my medical history so she didn’t question or deny my request, she said, “of course but I’m sure it’s going to come back benign.” I said, “of course, I still want a biopsy”

That next Tuesday, I had it scheduled. The following day I got the call that so many others receive every day. “You have breast cancer.”