My Story

“ᴋᴇʟʟʏ ᴏᴡᴄʜᴀʀ’s sᴛᴏʀʏ ᴇɴᴄᴏᴜʀᴀɢᴇᴅ ᴍᴇ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ᴍʏ ʟᴜᴍᴘ ᴄʜᴇᴄᴋᴇᴅ…. ɪ ᴄᴀɴ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴘʀᴀʏ ᴍʏ sᴛᴏʀʏ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴇɴᴄᴏᴜʀᴀɢᴇ sᴏᴍᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴇʟsᴇ”.

ᴋᴇʟʟʏ ᴍᴏʀɪɴ

My 8 month old son was weaning from breast feeding and I remember feeling a globular-like lump on my right breast. I immediately thought it must be a clogged duct. 1 1/2 months later the lump was still there and slightly tender. One night I was tossing and turning and couldn’t stop feeling and thinking about this lump. So I did what everyone tells you not to do… google lol!! I read several blogs about postpartum breast cancer. WAIT…what? I have never heard of this! My heart starts racing! I came across a blog about a women named Kelly Owchar. When her twins were only two months old she discovered she had stage 4 postpartum breast cancer that had metastasized to her liver. With no cure she passed away 1 week later. Tears were running down my face reading several articles about her and her family! ….it broke my heart and lets just say I made an appointment with my PCP days later.

When I met with my PCP she didn’t seem too concerned. She said “it is most likely a cyst or build up of milk from breast feeding, but lets get an ultrasound to be sure.”

On Friday, April 13th (yes, Friday the 13th) I had an ultrasound. The doctor came in after reviewing the imaging and stated “there is blood flow going through this tumor which means it could be one of two things. A benign adenoma which is a tumor that causes no harm or breast cancer”. He said, “don’t lose sleep Kelly, I am 95% sure this is benign”. I was worried. I remember thinking to myself “this is bad”. But I ignored those thoughts and tried to stay positive. Heck I have a 95% chance this thing is benign! Stop getting in your head Kelly…

I received “the call” on Monday, April 16th mid-morning. My 8 month old son and 2 1/2 year old daughter were in their highchairs eating a snack at the dinner table. I noticed the doctor calling and sprinted to the living room. At the time I was home alone with the kids…. the doctor asked if I wanted someone home with me and I quickly responded “no, I need to know now”. And thats when he replied “I am so sorry Kelly but your biopsy came back positive for breast cancer”. I responded “oh my god” and my heart started pounding out of my chest. He started talking about the type of cancer and upcoming imaging. I took a pen and paper out to write notes. My hands started shaking…. I started crying and he said “Kelly you won’t remember most of this conversation, call me back a little later”. I remember hanging up the phone and sobbing uncontrollably. My husband came home immediately and held me in his arms. Shortly after my Mom, Dad and Mother-in-law. Hours went by and I was numb. So numb….

Days went by and things started happening quickly. Ultrasounds, MRI, Mammogram, Lymph node biopsy, and meetings. On April 26th I met with my surgeon to discuss details. It was a 7cm “C shaped” breast tumor called invasive ductal carcinoma, right side only, stage 3, HER2 negative, estrogen and progesterone positive. She said “we need to start chemo right away because your tumor is right up against your chest wall and I worry I won’t have clear margins if I do surgery up front”. OK… chemo… here we go. My life is going to change forever…

After 5 long months of chemo, a double mastectomy and 5 1/2 weeks of radiation I finally finished ALL breast cancer treatment!!!

I blogged my entire journey! My first blog being my very first CT Scan. I hope my blog brings other survivors hope, strength and courage throughout their journeys!

Kelly ღ