By Renata

My name is Renata, and eleven years ago I moved to the US from Italy with my husband and our two children.
In February 2022, I was doing a regular check in the shower, when I felt a mass on the exterior side of my left breast. I immediately called for an appointment with my doctor. I had to wait a few days because I wanted to change doctors and I had to wait for the insurance to confirm it.
In the meantime, my breast started swelling and it hurt. I was worried, but at the same time I knew that tumors don’t cause any pain, so why worry? I didn’t say anything to my husband. I tried to hide the swelling and the pain, and found excuses when he wanted intimacy, up until the day of the doctor appointment. Last year my husband lost a dear aunt to a neglected breast cancer, and it hit him hard. Showing him that the woman he sees as the column of the house, was vulnerable, wasn’t easy for me. But probably, I didn’t want to be seen as vulnerable.
When the doctor saw me, he confirmed that it was most likely just a cyst, as tumors don’t generally hurt. But still, I was worried. At this point I talked to my husband, explaining to him it was just a cyst, but I had to do a mammogram and an ultrasound the week after.
Testing and Diagnosis
The mammogram was concerning because it didn’t show anything, but obviously something was there. The ultrasound however, showed more. A young doctor came into the room after he checked the results, and said he thought it was Inflammatory Breast Cancer and it was imperative to see a surgeon sooner rather than later, and my doctor would call me in a few days to schedule an appointment. This was on Monday. On Thursday, I called the doctor because nobody had called me. A nurse said the doctor was on vacation and would be back the following Monday. I gently explained the urgency, and she said she would put my note on top of the pile.
I know how these things work. I understand that they probably have tons of patients who say that it’s urgent and want to be a priority, but mine really was a priority. I thanked her and hung up. Quick suggestion, keep nurses on your good side. My brother is a doctor, and this probably helps me see the doctor’s side. But still, I was a little nervous. The practical side of me said, “Hey, one day won’t change a thing,” but the patient side wanted this to be done sooner. Thinking about that now, I know why I was so nervous: when you go through medical issues in Italy, the waiting time is very long. I didn’t know that in less than a month I would have started chemo.
Less than an hour later, the same nurse called me back to tell me that she checked my report, and she already called the surgeon, Doctor J., who was waiting for me to call. So, I did it immediately. He fixed an appointment for the following Monday and my husband went with me. The doctor performed another ultrasound and said he didn’t like what he was seeing. He wanted to perform a biopsy right there.