My name is Sarah Baker and I have been married to my wonderful husband for 13 years. We have two boys ages 6 and 11. I was diagnosed in March 2017 at age 36, six months before my 37th birthday with ER+ HER2- invasive cell breast cancer. I found the lump in my right breast and went to my doctor and she sent me for a mammogram and ultrasound. They found a 7 cm lump in my right breast with possible spread to the lymph nodes in my armpit.
They were unsure if any treatment would work because of the size of the tumor. I was started on chemotherapy immediately. Chemotherapy finished in July 2017 and I had a lumpectomy in August. The chemotherapy was successful and shrunk the tumor to the size of a pea!
Margins were clear after surgery and I went on to have 35 radiation treatments. I was declared in remission and have been followed by my oncologist and surgeon every six months. I was also started on Tamoxifen. I recently have been having back pain and on April 30 I went to feed my cat and as I was trying to stand back up I had excruciating pain and couldn't move.
I was brought to the hospital. I had an MRI a few days prior by my orthopedic doctor because nothing was working for my back pain. They found a compression fracture and lesions in my spine. I had immediate surgery for the compression fracture and biopsy for lesions. The biopsy came back positive for the same cancer I had in 2017. The cancer is in my spine and in my left shoulder. So far I've had radiation treatments on my back and shoulder. I will not be needing chemotherapy this time, which I joked with my oncologist and said good thing because it took me three years to grow my hair back! I always blog about my experiences and add humor to it, it's my way to vent and to hopefully make other people laugh.
I think one of the funniest things that I did the first time around was during chemotherapy I was playing around with Snapchat and there was a funny filter that made me have big ears and eyes, so with my bald head I looked hilarious.
I think the funniest moment from this time so far, was during my hospital stay. I decided to ask to be bathed because it had been a week after surgery and I felt gross. I hadn't shaved my legs in two weeks and I have a LOT of hair to begin with. The nurses got me prepped for a shower. The LNA came into my room and said loudly, "I brought you in five disposable razors because you said you were hairy!" And sure enough we used four of the five razors! The hair on my legs grew in like chemo curls on my head, it was so ridiculous!