Sarah’s journey with Inflammatory Breast Cancer serves as a poignant reminder for young women across Canada to prioritize their health. Despite encountering dismissive attitudes towards her symptoms, Sarah’s unwavering determination and advocacy highlights the significance of listening to our bodies. Her inspiring story instills hope, urging others to trust their instincts and persist in seeking the care they deserve! Thank you for sharing your story with us Sarah!
“I won’t lie. There are some days where you really wonder why you are putting yourself through this. You think “I felt better before starting all this treatment. Why am I even doing it?” The roller coaster of emotions you experience can be overwhelming.
My story starts like many other young women. Noticing the concerning changes, mentioning it to medical providers, only to be brushed off because you’re “t0o young” or “no real risk factors”.
I was 35 when I had my youngest child. When I tried breastfeeding my milk came in bloody but I was told it was normal and they called it rusty pipes. I had swelling, lumps and bumps (many of those lumps and bumps were from when I had my daughter at 33 and had horrible mastitis) and told it was scar tissue from the previous mastitis.
So naturally I ignored everything and carried on with life. I always had a nagging feeling in the back of my mind but I didn’t want to seem like a hypochondriac, plus I had no family doctor. I was like many others in New Brunswick and waiting to win the doctor lottery.
I was 38 when I couldn’t ignore it any longer. I had blood coming from my nipple to the point it soaked my shirt. I was wearing nursing pads in my bra. I had recently lucked into a family doctor and called him, he immediately wanted to see me. As soon as he saw my breast he was on the phone demanding radiology get me in immediately for a mammogram. From there I was rushed for ultrasound and biopsy. I’ll never forget telling the nurse who helped with my biopsy I was hoping it was just a cyst or something and she hugged me. I knew then my fears were real.
June 20, 2023, a little over 2 weeks after I brought my concerns to my family doctor, I was sat down by the breast surgeon and given the words “you have cancer”.
The next few weeks were a whirlwind of tests, scans, meeting my oncology team etc… I was dx with stage 3C Inflammatory Breast Cancer with IDC ER/PR+ HER2-. I had a 10cm tumour that had invaded my muscle wall.
I started chemo. Dose dense Taxol for 4 rounds then AC (commonly referred to as The Red Devil). Chemo was not going how it should have. It seemed to actually anger my tumour. It did not respond well at all. A few times there was a conversation with my Oncologist about stopping chemo and trying other routes. We needed to get it out of my muscle wall so the surgeon could get clear margins. Thankfully by some miracle the last two rounds of chemo did just that.
4 weeks after my last chemo I went for my Modified Radical Single Mastectomy.
The pathology came back as a Grade 1 tumour. Which is apparently extremely rare for IBC. The tumour was still 9cm when removed and 9 of the 11 tested lymph nodes were still positive for cancer even after chemo.
After surgery I was started on Zoladex to shut my ovaries down, and given a list of different medications I’ll be starting to lower my chances of reoccurrence and waiting for a referral to have my ovaries removed.
I am now about to start radiation. Making daily trips to Saint John, which is over an hour away from home.
Doing all this with a 4 and 6 year old, a small hobby horse farm and trying to keep some sense of normalcy for my children.
Every day I wonder how many other young women are out there with cancer growing inside them but told it’s nothing to worry about. It doesn’t matter if you have no family history. It can still happen. I am always telling everyone to push for a mammogram. Don’t take no for an answer if you have concerns.
It was a small miracle I wasn’t stage 4. Every day I am thankful that it was caught early enough, my story could have been much different.”