5/18/2020
On 4/13/2020, my life as I knew it changed again. I'm 8 years older, my children are now 18 yrs and 12 years, my husband has a few more gray hairs.
I was DIAGNOSED with Metastatic Breast Cancer (mBC). An MRI performed in the ER found a 1.8 cm diameter mass in my L2 lumber vertebr. Lit up like a light bulb. The ER doc wasn't really sure what to say to me except I've ordered some Ativan for you. Well, I didnt take the Ativan, I cried yes, but I didnt want it.
I was admitted to the 6th floor again. Same as last time, except the role is reversed this time. 8 years ago, after my left mastectomy, my roommate was a metastatic breast cancer survivor. I remember her crying out in pain all night long. She had a PCA, like I did this time. I could push a button for dilaudid pain medication to be delivered every 4 minutes if I needed it. I surely pushed that button quite frequently that first night after I was admitted. And the admitting DR also programmed the pump to deliver continuous pain medication from 9 pm to 9 am while i slept. It was the first pain relief i had had in about 2 weeks.
While i was there, (even during COVID-19 time) i had a total of 3 CT scans, 2 MRIs, 1 Bone scan and 1 CT guided Biopsy of my lumber spine (needle had to be 4 inches long). Pathology came back positive for Metastatic Breast Cancer.
NOW WHAT.............
