Caroline Scruggs

Survivor

In December of 2013 I found a tiny lump (smaller than a pea) deep in my armpit. When I went to my doctor’s office the nurse practitioner that felt it said it was just the corner of my implants (I had breast implants when I was 28, I’m in my 50’s now.). I remember thinking it odd that implants had corners – aren’t they round? – but didn’t question it as she was the expert. Fast forward six months and that tiny lump was now a grape sized lump visible in my armpit. Went back to the doctor’s and saw a new nurse practitioner who immediately sent me for an ultrasound followed by a mammogram. Stage 2b breast cancer. I’m now cancer free following chemo, a double mastectomy, radiation. I was hospitalized several times along the way due to complications from my treatment. Would things have been different if my diagnosis and treatment had begun six months earlier? I’ll never know. What I would like to stress to anyone that might read this is that if you feel that something might be wrong with your body, and you’re told otherwise…please don’t hesitate to get a second opinion. Follow your instincts!