Audi's Story: How I Went From Shocked to Strong
Audi A is a Breastcancer.org community member in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
It was just an ordinary day, but it was a big day, because I was having a mammogram. Never thought anything of it just a regular yearly mammogram. It was right after my court academy, becoming a court officer, that I went in for the routine visit. Not thinking anything of it. I got a call that it came back abnormal. At that point they told me to go in for a biopsy, where they biopsied with a needle to take some of the tissue inside my right breast — that’s where they found an abnormality.
I was scared and upset and angry — one of the nurses at the breast center said, "I have never seen anything like this before." Shocking, but true, someone would say that — especially a caretaker. That was discouraging and it scared me again knowing that there was something wrong, they did see something. After the biopsy, they called me back from the breast center and said I had breast cancer. I was scared.
So we had to go further into it. In December of last year, I had to get an MRI for the left breast. They found 4mm of cancer in the left breast, more in the right. The left was lobular cancer, in the right was invasive ductal carcinoma. They put a surgery day to take out the cancer and do a bilateral mastectomy on Valentine’s Day of 2023.
I went in that day, I took an anti-anxiety pill and powered through the morning. Surgery was supposed to begin at 10 but they postponed it because someone didn’t make their appointment, so they put me to 9am. I met with my surgeon and plastic surgeon — they were both very kind — but once I got on the table, and the light shone on me to do the surgery, I told the anesthesia doctor I did not want to do it anymore.
Seven hours later I woke up with no breasts, stitches, and tubes hanging beside me. I was nauseated and I was tired. I also had a lip pain — I think when the anesthesiologist put the mask over my mouth something happened to my lip, I don’t know what. But the next surgery where I reconstruct my breast from my tummy fat, I will tell the anesthesiologist. November 13, 2023, that’s the next surgery.
Well, to make a long story short, they sent me home the same day after they took out my breast and the cancer. I was home for 2 1/2 months. I had a visiting nurse for maybe two days out of that time I was home.
It’s a lot to tell you, but right now I’m taking a pill for seven years and I do an injection to have my ovaries fall asleep. I didn’t take my ovaries out because when I was 45, that’s when they did a hysterectomy, and they left my ovaries because of osteoporosis. I do not have osteoporosis or bone loss, but with the medication that I’m taking, it’s putting me into menopause. And I'm having numbness and tingling in my hands, all sorts of other things are going on, but I’m taking it in stride. We have to do what we have to do to survive. I am going to do the next surgery in November. It’s called the DIEP flap.
Also, the Ellie Fund and the Susan G. Komen foundation help me throughout my experience with breast cancer. They were very supportive and great resource. Also, I went on a site Bezzy site and I found about this newsletter and Breastcancer.org.
Just be brave and strong and fight all the way until you can’t fight anymore. Breast cancer is going to be a journey for me. I am tired of being tired, but I am still fighting, exercising, and living the best life I can live.
Good luck to everyone out there.
