Kim's Story: My Gut Feeling Told Me an Infection Was Much More
Kim Robinson is a Breastcancer.org Community member in Symrna, Tennessee, USA.
My breast cancer diagnosis happened because of a mastitis infection. I was going about my day as normal and all of a sudden I felt pain in my breast. By that night it was sore and red. I started googling and saw some information about symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer so that got my attention. The next day I went to see my gynecologist. After the exam, she made me an appointment with a breast specialist and sent me next door for a mammogram. The radiologist read the results and told me I had mastitis and prescribed antibiotics. I asked some questions about inflammatory breast cancer and he said he did not think it was that.
The antibiotics did clear the redness and pain quickly. It really was mastitis. The strange thing was that even though my breast looked normal, it did not feel normal. For lack of a better way to describe it, it felt like the kind of vibration that happens when humming. I was very aware of it and I knew something was not right.
Two weeks later I saw the breast specialist. She said that everything appeared normal and that antibiotics would not clear up cancer. I told her that something was most definitely wrong because my breast had been humming at me. She looked at me like I was a little bit crazy. She told me that my breasts were dense and because of that she could request an MRI but insurance might deny it. The MRI would show anything benign or malignant and probably what I was feeling was due to the mastitis. That was the first time that I had ever been told I had dense breasts.
My insurance approved the MRI and it showed an area of interest. I was scheduled for an ultrasound guided biopsy. My doctor told me again she felt like the area was due to the recent mastitis infection. I was hoping that she was right. When I went to my appointment for the biopsy, they did an ultrasound first and they could not see the area they needed to biopsy. They informed me that I would have to have an MRI guided biopsy to pinpoint the area.
I had already been waiting weeks for the biopsy so I thought they meant they could do it that day but they said I would have to reschedule. It was almost four weeks later when I got my next biopsy appointment. Before my appointment, the radiologist told me he felt that what the MRI picked up was most likely due to the mastitis infection. Two days later, my doctor's office called and she said, "Your persistence has paid off. You do have breast cancer."
It was an almost 10 week process to confirm what I already knew.
I was very fortunate that my cancer was found so early at stage Ia and not in my lymph nodes. I was not getting a mammogram every year like I should have.
The pain caused by the mastitis is the reason I got one and without that pain it could have been another year before I took the time to get one. I realize now that with my breast density, a mammogram or even a 3D mammogram would have most likely not have detected it until it was much larger. Anyone who is told they have extremely dense breasts should have a conversation with their doctor about extra screenings such as ultrasound or MRI combined with a 3D mammogram.
Next came all of the decisions. I chose lumpectomy because my tumor was so small. I felt like a double mastectomy was extreme and at that time, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I realized that I would have screenings every six months for two years consisting of a 3D mammogram alternating with a contrast MRI. What I didn't realize is the toll that those constant screenings would take on my mental health.
At the end of my two year mark, I found a lump. It was time for my 3D mammogram and it showed nothing. I got a contrast MRI that showed the lump was the size of a small lemon, not detected on the 3D mammogram. When I saw the image my heart dropped. Fortunately it was benign. I decided to do a prophylactic double mastectomy because I knew my breast density would continue to be an issue.
I did implant reconstruction first and after having issues with them, I explanted and had DIEP flap in 2019. After knowing what both types of reconstruction feel like, DIEP flap was the right choice for me. I am almost eight years out from hearing the words, "You do have breast cancer." Telling my story takes me right back like it was yesterday. I don't know that I will ever get over cancer but somehow I have moved through it.
I recently took a girl's trip with some pink sisters that I met in online support groups. Some of us finished up our reconstruction journey by getting 3D nipple tattoos. It was a great bonding experience with women I consider to be lifelong friends. Connecting with others who truly understand has been such an important part of healing. We really do have the worst club with the best members!
