Meet Sirpa, whose journey through Inflammatory Breast Cancer began with a fierce determination to overcome the far too common struggle of obtaining a proper and timely diagnosis. Sirpa’s story serves as a powerful reminder of the importance of listening to our bodies and the unwavering strength found in perseverance and self-advocacy!
“My story starts up in the sky somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean. We were on our way to Finland to visit my family and I was feeling so happy and excited I didn’t even get concerned when I could feel heat on the left side of my chest and breast. I do remember thinking it’s weird to feel heat when that was the window side and normally I’m cold in the planes by the window. But at that time I just ignored it and kept daydreaming of my upcoming vacation.
As the days kept going I started paying more attention to this weird warmth and I also noticed my bra was leaving marks on my skin as if it was too small. But only on the left side. My breast was feeling heavier as the days went and I was starting to get more concerned.
I decided to wait until I was back at home and go get it checked immediately. And that’s when the story really starts.
I didn’t have a family doctor so I went to an Urgent Care Clinic in downtown Vancouver. The doctor examined me and agreed that the left breast was clearly bigger and swollen and more dense but he couldn’t feel a lump. He said he would send me for a mammogram. For a brief moment I was happy but then he said the wait list was long and that it would be 4 months for me. I had researched my symptoms by now and was almost sure I had IBC as nothing else fit the symptoms. So I knew I couldn’t wait for 4 months!
Not giving up I went to another clinic and was dismissed as I already had a request for a mammogram. Same thing happened a third time. I was starting to feel desperate as weeks went by but went back to the first clinic and met the first female doctor which I thought was hopeful.
She ended up delivering the worst words I had heard so far. She told me I could not have breast cancer since I had no lump. When I suggested it could be IBC she said point blank that there was no such thing, that I had been googling too much! I was devastated. I cried all the way home thinking I was not going to get help.
The next day I decided to call that same clinic and by now even the front desk people were somewhat hostile to me as I was becoming a pest but when I asked where this mammogram was going to take place they luckily told me about the breast clinic at a small local hospital. A hospital in my city I had never heard of.
When I called that clinic directly they told me to come in and FINALLY someone got the wheels in motion! I had a mammogram, ultrasound and an MRI within two days.
At first I was diagnosed with IDC and met my lovely surgeon who took one look at my swollen warm breast and said she suspected it to be IBC and that I needed a skin biopsy to confirm it. She was a bit confused about how I took the news because I thanked her and felt such a relief for the first time in 6 weeks.
I met my oncologist Dec 22, 2022 who confirmed IBC and got me into chemo the very next day. I had an MRI on Christmas Eve and so started one year of treatments.
Today, almost 14 months later, I’m about to finish my targeted treatment of Herceptin and feeling cautiously optimistic about the future.
My lesson from those early weeks of unbelievable anxiety is to self advocate and never to ignore what our bodies are telling us.”
Thank you, Sirpa, for sharing your inspiring story! Your courage inspires hope in the face of adversity.