My name is Amy. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014 at the age of 40 after my first mammogram. The clinic kept saying I had dense breasts, and I said "if you keep calling them dense they will continue to fail your tests". Luckily the cancer was caught at an early stage. I underwent a lumpectomy and 33 sessions of radiation.
Stories of Hope
In 2012 I went to my Fridley clinic for a routine mammogram only to find out I missed the appointment by a day. “Would you like to make another appointment?” the receptionist asked. I told her I would call her later to reschedule. When I got to my car something told me to go back inside the clinic and set up an appointment as soon as possible.
In September of 2012 I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The diagnosis was hard on my family and me. I went through both a lumpectomy and mastectomy followed by chemotherapy. What gave me hope to overcome this obstacle was my faith in God and having trust in him to put my life in his hands.
My journey began with a pregnancy. It was July 2014, and I was on maternity leave with my beautiful 10-day-old daughter when I had a lump that wouldn't go away checked out. I thought it was changes due to pregnancy. As my milk came in and I began to breast feed, that side was producing less milk and was somewhat painful.
On July 18th 2015 I was in the shower doing a self-breast examination when I felt a lump. When I returned home from traveling the following Monday, I called and made an appointment with my OBGYN. Back in 2004 I had a benign cyst which was removed. My first thought was I better go get this checked out.
My mother had breast cancer at 55, melanoma at 58 and died from lung cancer at 67. I have a ridiculous family history that includes all kinds of cancers, so it’s always been not “if,” but “when” I would get cancer.
