My Cancer Story…In Feb I had a mammogram that came back normal with a notation of extreme density (just like every year). However this year there was a recommendation stating “patient should consider supplemental screening with MRI”. At that time I thought it wasn’t necessary, just a suggestion. On May 14th I learned of my dear friend Kim’s diagnosis of stage 3b triple negative breast cancer! The next day I reached out to my doctor to try and get an MRI approved by insurance. He fought with the justification for about a month. They finally approved it and scheduled me for a location down the road in SC in June. The week of the appointment they told me the SC location was not in network and I would have to go to NC. NC called and said they are booked a month out. On July 14th I had my MRI, they called within 30 minutes of me leaving stating they saw a mass and I would need an ultrasound biopsy. The Biopsy occurred on July 20th. My mind was praying for it to be benign. July 22nd they called to state that is was cancer, invasive carcinoma at this point. The next step is to run 3 biomarkers to determine what kind. The first two comeback positive for both hormones and the final test (HER2 marker) needed alternate FISH testing. This is the test that was going to determine the aggressiveness and whether I would need Chemo. It came back positive. Triple positive breast cancer, currently stage 1 until they do the surgery to confirm. So where do we go from here…first step will be surgery. Due to the severity of the triple positive aggressiveness, my history and future prevention…I will have a double mastectomy on 9/10. I will start chemo and herseptin (HER2 blocker) about a month later for 12 weeks then I will continue herseptin every 3 weeks for 12 sessions. Because I am doing a double mastectomy I do not have to also do radiation. We feel good about the plan of attack. We know it’s going to be a rough year ahead but we will pray and tackle it one day at a time.