I met with eight surgeons—five breast, three plastic. Most left me cold. Uncaring. Vague. I’m usually decisive, but this? It was overwhelming. Then my closest friends stepped in—lifelines in the chaos. The new diagnosis hit like a storm: Bilateral breast cancer. Both sides. Three types. Plus several precancerous tumors – all at once, WOW, all of which was MISSED on the Mammograms — , except the biggest tumor, because I had DENSE Breast Tissue. I had to tell my boss and HR: Stage 3. I need 90 days of FMLA.Then I found out—as a federal employee, I didn’t qualify for California state disability. Three months of unpaid leave. Gas-guzzling 4-hour roundtrips to LA. The toll was relentless. But I kept going. Not out of ease—out of grit. I dug deep. Resilience became my compass. I’m not goin’ down!
First Breast MRI
