Late January 2019: I Found a Lump

I'm not too clear on when and how I first found the lump in my right breast, but it was late January, and I think I was taking a shower. I'm pretty sure I wasn't purposely doing a self-exam.

Surprisingly, I did not feel particularly alarmed. At my last annual check-up with my Primary Care Physician (PCP), my doctor had performed the usual breast exam, and she felt a "fatty deposit". She directed me to feel the little bump myself, in my right breast, and as she was not concerned, I thought nothing of it.

So when I felt this lump in late January, I thought, "Oh, this must be that fatty deposit..." I had actually forgotten all about it, and figured I had just "re-discovered" it.

As the days passed, however, it did seem curious that this lump was all of a sudden very noticeable to me. If it was the same "fatty deposit", and had been there all the time, why was it suddenly so prominent, when it had been so unobtrusive before?

Why I Started This Blog

It's not that I have any particular expertise in this area, but here's what I've been thinking...

When I first found my lump, of course I Googled "lump in breast" to get advice on what to do and what to expect. One of the most reassuring things I read was this brief but helpful blog:

My Little Lump and I

I figured, maybe if I made my story available on the web, too, it might help somebody in some way.

Then, I saw this viral Twitter thread about a woman's pleasantly straightforward experience dealing with a lump in Iceland:

American Woman Who Found A Lump While In Iceland Pens Eye-Opening Thread About Their Healthcare System

I immediately contrasted her experience with my own, and figured my experience might be a typical example worth sharing of how the American healthcare system works.

Finally, I tend to feel compelled to document certain experiences just for my own record, so I can remember exactly how things happened, either for my own benefit or in case I want to explain the situation to someone else in the future. So, if no one else reads this, at least I have it for myself.

Please Note: I've back-dated all my posts to the actual or approximate dates on which the events occurred, but actually I started this blog on June 13, 2019. 

10/29/19 Edited to Add: A few weeks before my surgery, I started telling family and close friends about my diagnosis. I pointed people to this blog so I wouldn't have to answer the same questions over and over. Later on, I decided I didn't want my diagnosis and treatment to be some kind of secret, so I posted about it on Facebook, and I linked my blog. Even though keeping others updated and spreading breast cancer awareness weren't part of my original vision, this blog has kind of evolved to serve those purposes, too.