The Shocking Discovery

Let’s backtrack to December 2016. I woke up one early morning to prepare for work. As I was brushing I noticed a strange mark on the upper right quadrant of my breast. It appeared I had been clawed by a kitten; thin, pink, long marks about 4 inches long. I stopped brushing and took a good look. I did not remember having a good time with my husband. How could I have slept so deeply not knowing I was fondled?

“Babe…what did you do to my breast?” I asked across the bathroom.

“Did you do anything overnight?” I asked again.

“No Toyin…” He replied sleepily.

A strange mark from nowhere. Hmmm…The mark cleared off after a few days. We traveled to Nigeria as a family for the winter holiday. I had not been home for 15 years. It was the first time for Tami and Bolu. This was going to be a grand family reunion. My sister was coming with her husband and my niece. My brother was going to introduce his future wife to the family. Her name is Yehoda. For the first time in many years, we were all going to be together under one roof!

On January 4, 2017, I woke up with severe breast pain. It felt like a bad case of mastitis. One of the veins in my breast looked inflamed. It was throbbing. It was painful. The next day, as I was taking a shower, I noticed the lymph nodes under my right armpit had swollen. Then I observed a little lump twirling inside my breast. As I traced it, it moved. I went to my mum and complained to her. She did a breast exam and told me to point blank that I was fine.

My Deep Concerns

I was still very uncomfortable. I could feel the lump playing around! I had not been faithful with self-breast exams but this time, I began to examine my breasts; the color, the curvature, everything! My only observation was that the left was quite softer than the right breast, as dense as they were. The blessings were indeed real 😊. Yehoda had overheard me saying I was experiencing breast pain and felt a lump. I came to find out she was an oncologist.

When I returned to the US, she encouraged me to go for breast imaging. I could have gone to an imaging center in Nigeria, but the results would have been useless when I returned to the US. My doctor would still request that I go re-do the imaging. Why bother?

The lymph nodes continued to swell and feel uncomfortable. The lump was still mobile every time I checked. We returned from vacation on January 12, but I did not see Dr N immediately. I had to hit the ground running to ensure TamBo’s Kitchen would open on time. I continued to observe the lump and pray.

The Need for Diagnosis

One fateful February morning, the lump was no longer moving. It seemed to attach itself to my nipple at a right angle. I could no longer ignore the need to see Dr. N.

I called her the last week of January to complain about the lump and she asked me to come in for a visit. She began performing the breast exam in a hurry. At first, she said she felt nothing and was going to send me my merry way. I asked her to pause.

Like a good doctor who listens and is patient-centered focused, she did what I told her and repeated the breast exam. She felt the lump.

The Diagnosis

On February 9, 2017, I was scheduled for a double mammogram and breast ultrasound. On February 14, I had been diagnosed with an invasive form of breast cancer; a malignant neoplasm of the right breast.

I first noticed that the acid reflux resolved itself after the cancer diagnosis. I have not had to take anti-thyroid meds either. It appeared these two conditions were pointers to something much more serious.

Cancer was here! My journey of battling the storms of life was here.

It was time to fight! Stay tuned for the next chapter of the ‘Good Fight’ series.