By Trudy Trybulski

In 2016, I was 63 and not long retired. I noticed a change in the shape of my left breast and went to see my doctor, who quickly referred me to the hospital where I had a mammogram and biopsy. Three weeks later, it was confirmed that I had breast cancer. Tissue samples showed I had stage 3, grade 3 invasive ductal carcinoma (breast cancer). I received the treatment that goes along with this sort of diagnosis: lumpectomy, three cycles of FEC (fluorouracil, epirubicin hydrochloride, and cyclophosphamide) chemotherapy, three cycles of docetaxel chemotherapy, three weeks of radiotherapy, Herceptin targeted therapy, and letrozole hormone therapy. I began to walk about the hospitals like a professional cancer patient.
Five years later, in 2021, I was diagnosed with a recurrence of the same cancer in the same breast which was also stage 3, grade 3. My oncologist recommended a left breast mastectomy, but I made a case to have a double mastectomy as I knew I would not cope very well with one large breast. I turned down chemotherapy and Herceptin, but agreed to zoledronic acid infusions and letrozole following the double mastectomy.
I have no regrets at all about the double mastectomy. I knew that mentally I would not cope well with one breast, implants, or any reconstruction. Three years post-mastectomy, I have an amazing tattoo covering my missing breasts and scars. I’d never had a tattoo before. At age 70