Advocating for myself

Last year I noticed a change in my breast what I thought was a cut wasn’t healing correctly, I went to see my gyno and told her what I noticed and she told me I was “ too young for cancer” and that it’s to hot in Texas and I should not wear a bra I asked for a mammogram and she said I wasn’t old enough and I had to wait till I was 40, I told her children get cancer so I’m not to young and if I wait 5 years to get a mammogram it will be to late for me and I’d probably be dead, a few months went by and still didn’t feel like myself and went to another doctor who said it was a infection and was given antibiotics and still was denied a mammogram, after 3 different antibiotics I went to see a specialist who wouldn’t see me because I didn’t have any scans, at this point I’ve tried for 6 months to get one so I called the oncology office every day three times a day until someone saw me, after a week finally a receptionist talked to a doctor to fit me in without scans, I went in had a biopsy of some skin and they came back negative went in for a mammogram and a sonogram, sonogram was clear and the radiologist said I didn’t need a mammogram because of my age and because the scan was clear went back for a follow up with the doctor and she was upset with the radiologist for not giving me a mammogram so she called and I went back and that is when we found the calcifications in the mammogram and was sent for a punch biopsy, and that is when we found the cancer… I fought so hard for so long to have a mammogram and to be seen it felt good to know I wasn’t crazy and to know my gut feeling was right but also so scared this has been a long journey after that I got my port and started my chemo in July… I finished chemo in October of 2023 and had my mastectomy in mid November of 2023 I’m still recovering and awaiting pathology to do radiation. I still have a long road ahead of me but it feels good to be alive and to share my story