Lori Shares Her Breast Cancer Story (VIDEO)

By Lori K

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Listen as Lori shares her breast cancer survival story.

Lori:
My name is Lori, and I am 47 years old. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2006. I had had a lump for five years that I could feel physically but never showed up in a mammogram, and after five years it showed up in a mammogram, so I had a second mammogram. I was called back for my second mammogram, and during my second mammogram the radiologist said to me that we can just watch it and see if it grows since it's newly diagnosed, and I said to her, no, I'd rather we took it out or did a biopsy, being I had had it for five years. I feel that something has changed already and it needs to be addressed. They took out the whole nodule. It was mobile, and they could just take a piece of it. So I came back for my report really not expecting to hear anything other than it was a nodule. I was diagnosed with probable stage I breast cancer. So that of course turned my life upside down in a nutshell, in a minute, but I went forward, and from the get-go I just thought I am going to have faith and support from my friends, and I am going to get through this. So I went forward with a very positive attitude, and anyway, I had all my scans done and everything turned out good other than the fact that they noticed some masses on my left side. So that concerned me and that is when I reached out for a second opinion, and I was told by a good friend who is an anesthesiologist about Dr.Gail Lebovic. So that is when I came to see her. We started in. She did some MRIs and did another biopsy for her own good, and the bottom line was that we decided that in my best interest, it was best for me to have a double mastectomy. I had very dense breasts as well, so just the thought of the unknown through the rest of the years, and being they were dense, and I just thought I am going to drive myself crazy if I am always constantly thinking there is something there and not knowing. So I had oncoplasty. I had that on October 30, 2006, and Dr. Lebovic went in, and she removed my nipples and the areolas. She scooped out all my breast tissues on both sides, and she cut me abdominally right on my bikini line, and she made me new areolas, and she also scooped out all the breast tissue and put in the implants on the same surgery. So I can probably say six weeks from that day I was back running; I am a runner. So on March 13, 2007, strictly by my choice, I wanted her to give me some nipples. So we went back in. She went partially on the same abdominal line and cut a little further, and she made me nipples, and that recovery time was just a few weeks, and I can honestly say that I feel better than I did and I am pleased with the way I look. I am very, very pleased and I cannot say enough about the procedure, and I just hope that other people come to see this on minimal scarring. And like I said, the scar on my abdomen is totally on my bikini line. So really if you saw me in a bikini, you really wouldn't know a thing. So very pleasing and very happy. I am here to share my story and hopes that others will reach out to her or someone of her capability, and it is perfectly doable.