Like mother, like daughter

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  They caught it very early.  She had a lumpectomy and 6 weeks of radiation.  I should add that she was a rock star about it.  She had her surgery, went back to work in less than a week and continued working all through her radiation.  She is so strong and amazing. Never complaining.  I have been blessed with her example my whole life.  She finished her radiation the end of January.  On February 14,  I had a mammogram.  My mom had told me I should get one, so I did.  The lady that gave me the test said she saw a large mass, but it didn't look like cancer.  I also had a wrestling tournament that day. It was a eventful day as I had to sneak out of the tournament to apply ice to my chest several times. After several weeks of waiting for the results, I met with my surgeon, Dr. C.  He said that the mass didn't look like cancer, but that it was quite large and wasn't there 2 1/2 years ago ( my last mammogram), so we should probably remove it.  The biopsy said negative for cancer, but it didn't look like what it did say.  Day surgery and home by supper is what he said.  Before I went into surgery they do an ultra-sound and place a wire into my breast that goes directly to the mass so the surgeon can find it quickly during surgery.  The Dr.that did the wire said that it didn't look like cancer....are u seeing a theme here?  Everybody said it didn't look like cancer.  The surgery went fine and I was home by supper. A couple days on the couch recovering. I was feeling pretty good. I was talking to my mom on the phone when another call,came in.  It was Dr. C.  I told mom I would call her back. The nurse said the Dr would like to see me to discuss the results of the biopsy of the mass they had removed.  I hung up and sat there in shock. The only reason he would have me come in was if I had cancer.  That was the most scary time of this whole story. I cried and cried. I called Kim and cried and cried. I called my mom back and cried an cried.  That was a bad day. Kim met me at Sage Junction and we went to the doctor.   The Dr said that I had some DCIS cells, which aren't cancer yet, but they will become cancer if we leave them alone.  He said we treat them just like they are cancer. I should mention that this the exact same thing my mom had. My choices were lumpectomy with radiation. Or masectomy without radiation.  When they do a lumpectomy, they remove the lump and then they take an area around the lump,called a margin.  Then they test at the edge of the margin for any cancer cells.  If it is clear of  all bad cells, they stop. If it is positive they take more of a margin and test again. They keep going until they get a clear test. So they could be taking just the lump or they may take most of the breast depending on what they find.  Because of this and the fact that I'm only 41, I decided to have a masectomy.  To be   continued......