This journal is about my journey with DCIS which began in January 2024. Ductal Carcinoma in Situ. A form of breast cancer. I didn't tell many people. Family, a handful of close friends. I didn't even tell my bosses at the museum where I teach. Somewhere along the line after much prodding and poking, I decided the My DCIS Journey was too boring so retitled the journal Adventures of the Poor, Little Boob.
The Poor, Little Boob has been cancer-free since June 0f 2024, and still has another year of taking hormone therapy and being monitored by an oncologist. My target date for ending the medication and this journey is June1, 2027
I was notified of new test results in the patient portal of the medical group my primary care physician belonged to before I heard anything from my primary care. That's good an bad. The wait is over, but bad because you're reading things that you may not completely understand.
For 7 years, I worked in a hospital laboratory. I started as a receptionist, worked up to an extra pair of hands for some of the departments, I sometimes filled in typing pathology reports from a Dictaphone when one of the medical secretaries was out, I was the computer operator when the lab became computerized, and I was a bench monkey plating specimens in Microbiology. All this to say, I have enough medical background to make me dangerous.
I think I stared at the word carcinoma for several minutes. How could that be? I had no pain. No lumps, bumps, or anything out of the ordinary.
Ductal Carcinoma in Situ referred to as DCIS. Ever notice how diseases are known by acronyms? I'm with DCIS like I belong to some sort of special law enforcement task force.
A little medical reading got me to the cancer cells are located in the milk ducts and pretty much stay there. DCIS is called Stage 0 or pre-cancer. That made me laugh because it's like being sort of pregnant. You either are or you aren't.
I also found that Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts is the only facility in the Northeast United States that has a program specifically for DCIS. I decided that's where I wanted to be treated.
Despite it´s all so very darn scary you made me giggle cause that is exactly what the (very sexy) mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko in German said, man kann nicht halb-schwanger sein. We need some humor, huh. I really felt like an old turtle on my back when I fell and didn´t know if to cry or laugh.
ReplyDeleteThis series, I guess, helps many in fear, so.... thank you.
Thank you for teaching me that phrase 🤣
DeleteIt's not helpful to happen upon your diagnosis . . .
ReplyDeleteYou get your hopes up before you open the file that everything is fine and then....
DeleteI can relate! Back in 'the day'.....I wasn't so much diagnosed as I was sent home with a piece of paper to file with the insurance company (In the olden days the patient did the required filing of papers/bills.) My mistake was reading it and then going to the library to do research....a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing! I was a basket case for weeks until my follow up visit!
ReplyDeleteBut aren't you lucky to live close to where the best treatment is!
Yikes! I would have been a basket case, too. Yes, I'm fortunate to live in an area where we have some of the best hospitals around and they are not too far way for me to get to.
DeleteDana Farber how do i know that name? sounds familiar... Brave to open that file... but at the same time how could you not open the file... Hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteIf you watch baseball and happen to catch the Boston Red Sox, they have had a decades long partnership with Dana Farber through the Jimmy Fund. This has been the team's charity since the 1950s. Brave to open the file. No curiosity and the cat. 🐈⬛
Deleteand bless the staff at dana farber for helping you out💚💚💚💚
ReplyDeleteThey were the best
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