Answer to Kathy's Question

Kathy asked, after being sick and running a fever for so long what happened that made me check for cancer? Good question. Several things happened all around the same time. First, several doctors that I saw said that one of the things that can cause a fever that has no other obvious origin is a malignant tumor. I had a bone marrow biopsy to rule out several cancers that can present with a fever. That very painful test came back negative. (Breast cancer doesn't usually present with a fever, but mine did.)

I have always done my monthly self breast exams and gone for my annual mammograms. I have had several cysts in the past, some that have come and gone with fluctuating hormones during the month, so I was not too surprised when I found a lump while doing a self check. I decided to wait and keep an eye on it to see if it disappeared as my hormones changed that month. Around the same time, I went to a very gifted and highly trained massage therapist in San Francisco because my neck had gone out really badly. He is very intuitive to illness in the body. As he was checking my neck and left arm where I was having some numbness from my neck, the first thing out of his mouth was, "Have you been checked for breast cancer?" (He knew I had been sick for months at that point without a diagnosis.) My first thought was, "I had better go get that lump checked."

Also around this time, and this sounds really bizarre I know, my dog (a mini-doxie and therefore a scent hound) had been sitting on my lap and turned around and sniffed my left breast like there was something under my shirt. He did this on two or three occasions. I thought that was pretty wierd but I had read that sometimes dogs can smell cancer so it got my attention.

I think it was the the day after I came home from the massage therapist in SF, I called my GYN and made an appointment. They were able to get me in immediately. I had prayed and knew when I went into the doctor that I needed to ask to have a mammogram AND an ultrasound to check this lump. The mammogram was completely clear, but it was during the ultrasound that a very careful and thorough tech found the cancer in my left breast. So that was a long answer, but clearly the Lord went out of His way to make clear to me that I needed to get checked for breast cancer. My advice now to women is 1) do your monthly self breast exams, 2) if you suspect there is anything different, go to your doctor and make sure to ask for a mammogram and an ultrasound 3) don't put it off, I know it is scary, but going to your doctor can save your life! I am sure glad I went. Hope that helps.