... The one where I meet my breast surgeon

We came home on New Years Eve and went to spend the holiday with my Rodriguez side at Chapo's (IYKYK). This was when I told my fathers side of the family. For those that don't know me, my father died back in 2004 from a heart attack at the age of 49. So telling that side was very hard for me. But again there were tears, hugs and lots of love and support.

January 4th was a Wednesday and this was the day of my appointment with the breast surgeon. I brought Doug and Maggie with me. my stomach was in knots, not sure what to expect as we drove to the office of Dr. Camal in Tinton Falls. We enter the building and go up the elevator , as the doors open to the left is Healthy Women OBGYN and to the right is Advanced Breast Surgery. This may not seem to mean anything to anyone else but I go to Healthy Woman OBGYN but I always go to the Freehold Office. This is the other office my obgyn Dr. Aland works out of. What are the chances that she was across the hall from my breast surgeon?I felt like this was a good sign.

We waited in the waiting room for just a few minutes and i was called in for my exam. The nurse who took my vitals was so sweet and nice. She said "We are the nicest people, you never want to come visit." and she was right. There was already a good feeling in that office but lord knows, I really didn't want to be there.

Dr. Camal came in just moments after and looked at me and said with the most caring voice, "You look like your 25. Why are you in my office? You shouldn't be here".

"Well thank you, I'll take that but I agree I shouldn't be here."- Gotta embrace the compliment.

"I was so glad to hear you didn't cancel your trip to Disney. I think that was perfect timing for this trip."

Wow she really read my charts and somewhere it must have said I was going to Disney. Crazy.

She proceeded to give me an exam and asked me when I had noticed any changes. I told her I really only noticed things were different in September. I noticed my one breast was larger. Then in October I noticed that the top of my breasts felt thicker like clogged milk ducts or mastitis, and when I went and got them checked it seemed like I had dense breast tissue. And then November I noticed a weird change in my nipple where it slightly pulled in and the skin was thicker around it. She felt the like a normal exam and checked the lymph nodes with the gentlest surgeon hands. She was such a calm present that i already felt safe. She told me its not surprising that I didn't feel this before, it was hard for her to find the swollen lymph node herself. She understood why I didn't notice especially since it felt like mastitis. It was like the validation I needed. I kept second guessing myself, How did I Not feel this?? How did I not notice the pain? But her words gave me the comfort I needed.

"I reviewed all of your charts and your medical history and I really don't know why you got breast cancer."

"I don't know either"- See I have been saying I shouldn't have cancer and even my surgeon agrees!

"All I know is I want it out, so just take them both so I don't have to do this again."

When we were done with the exam she took me to her office to go over everything with Doug and Maggie. We sat there for almost an hour, as she showed us all of my scans and ultrasounds. She showed where the mass was on my left breast and where the calcifications were throughout it. She showed the lymph node that was affected. She compared the scans to my healthy breast so we could see the difference. She went over the type of cancer I have again and that is is DCIS Stage 2 (Ductal Carcinoma in situ). I'm ER Positive and that means it has receptors that respond to estrogen. This will mean I will be taking an estrogen blocker after treatment. We are still waiting on results of the HER2 Neu test. But she didn't think I would be positive for that.

She again repeated that she doesn't know why I got this because it doesn't make sense. But sometimes this just occurs with no explanation. She explained that she was happy I had already decided on a bilateral mastectomy because she felt a lumpectomy wouldn't be the best option. Since the cancer was in different areas all over my breast it would leave my breast a mess, and at my age she didn't feel that would be the best option. But since I already decided we just took that out of the equation.

She talked to us about chemotherapy and that I would most likely need it but I would need to see the oncologist. The treatment plan was not yet put together. I would need a Breast MRI to see if any other lymph nodes were effected that they didn't see on the mammogram. She and the oncologist would work together to decide if it was safer to do surgery first and then chemo OR chemo to shrink the lymph nodes before surgery. But this plan had not been decided yet.

We talked about reconstruction and how she works with the plastic surgeon and they tag team in surgery. When she is done with removing the cancer, the plastic surgeon comes in to start the reconstruction process. Those details I would go over with the plastic surgeon. She asked if i had a plastic surgeon but I don't so she said she works with a wonderful one and would make an appointment for me.

We went over the other tests that I would need in the next week:

• A Bone Scan to make sure that the cancer hasn't spread to my bones.

• A CAT scan to make sure that the cancer hasn't spread anywhere else in my body

• A Genetic Blood test to see if I have the BRACA gene. Which she also explained would be important for my sister as well as my children.

• And of course the Breast MRI to see if the Cancer is in any other lymph nodes if anything was missed on the mammogram

Dr. Camal answered any questions we had and gave me her phone number in case I had any questions that came up. She said she will always return a call by the end of the day if she didn't answer. She was so glad I brought such a wonderful support system since that is what I will be needing. Some of the conversation was a blur because it was so much information at once. But she was so warm and supportive. She never felt like a stranger. She felt safe. I knew she was the one for this.

She brought the three of us to meet Monica in her office and said she would help me book all my appointments. THANK GOD! I can't imagine having to keep all these appointments straight...

Monica is AMAZING. Besides having the most soothing voice she is the sweetest person ever. I told her I'm open to any time for an appointment. Whenever you get me in I will make it work and I will be there. She told me she would call me as soon as she booked my scans and dr appointments.

I met up with the same nurse from earlier and she gave me a folder with some info in and said "This has some info in it and if you have other questions just call us. Don't google." I said that this seems to be a theme.

And after goodbyes and a lot of thank you's... that was it. The 3 of us left the office all feeling better than we did when we arrived. We all had the same feeling about Dr. Camal. She was just wonderful, and knowledgeable. She felt right for this journey. She would be the woman to save my life.