Charlotte’s Rare Breast Cancer Battle

Some of you may know me, and some may not but hello to all and thank you for taking the time to learn more about me. November 2021, I was so excited to visit my daughter in SoCal because she was about to have her second child (a boy). While staying in my Airbnb waiting one evening, I took a shower and noticed a small bump under my arm on the right side. Deep inside, this has preoccupied me mentally, but I wasn't going to let this ruin his grand entrance on November 22nd. So I held this news in until I returned home to Northern California.

First, I called my primary care physician to schedule an appointment, but unfortunately, I couldn't get in to see her until January 26, 2022. In that short time, I noticed the bump had moved from under the arm to the right breast. During my physical, my doctor stated she felt what I felt, so the first thing was to have a mammogram and ultrasound done immediately. Unfortunately, due to insurance issues, they did not schedule the mammogram ultrasound until April 12, 2022. coming from a small town, the pathologist told me right away it was cancer, but he couldn't say for sure until I had a biopsy done. The biopsy was scheduled for April 18, 2022, and the results were sent to my primary care physician that same day. I was told it would take 3-5 days to get the results.

On April 22, 2022, my doctor called me for a same-day appointment on her day off to deliver the news; I'm so sorry to tell you, but you have breast cancer. I had mentally prepared myself for this news, but it was still not easy to accept. As we went over everything else during this appointment, she told me that due to the rarity of my cancer, I needed to move to Southern California the following week for treatment. Talk about candles on a cake; this scared me; all I could wonder now was how bad this cancer could be that I needed to move 530 miles in the next few days.

April 26, 2022, I am living in Long Beach with my daughter, grandkids, and soon-to-be son-in-law, and my second home is Cedar Sinai Hospital. I have learned to be accepted at this hospital, you must have an exceptional case.

After my final diagnosis I had to start radiation 5 days per week and chemotherapy several weeks. So far I’ve had 5 infusion sessions I must say it really takes a toll on the body. I’m hanging in there and yes everyone tells me to relax, not to worry and get plenty of rest. It’s kind of difficult not to worry when you had to leave everything behind and with the amount of treatment and the side effects there is no way you can work which means no income.

Thank you everyone for taking the time to read about the last 8 months of my life.