My Story
Customer Service Rep
Pembroke Pines, FL
4 years, 9 months since her MammoSite treatment.
It started with an overdue mammogram. I had scheduled to have my yearly mammogram twice in 2005, only to have both appointments cancelled due to hurricanes, the second of which resulted in considerable damage to our home. Suddenly, I was thrown into "repair" mode and the mammogram went on the back burner. After resolving most of our home repair issues, I planned to reschedule the test. But again fate stepped in. I fell in my house and broke my ankle. I was confined to the downstairs of my home for 2 months. Finally, I called in August. I was troubled by not having this done in a timely manner, given the fact that my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was my age. I set up the appointment, only to receive a call advising that there was construction going on at the facility and there would be a 3-month wait. Oh boy. I insisted on having it done the following week at another location. At the end of August I had the mammogram done. The tech took several additional pictures of my right breast and underarm. She told me "not to be surprised" if I got another call. Not only did I get another call, I got a registered letter advising me to set up another appointment for an ultrasound. This time I was on top of things and had this done earlier. I went for the ultrasound. I spoke to a radiologist who wrote a prescription for a core needle biopsy "to get a better look". THEN, I knew. Everybody was very reassuring, telling me that 90% of tumors are benign, and I'm glad for that statistic, but somehow I knew I was going to be in the other 10%. And I was. I went to my General Practioner who called me into her office very early on a Monday morning. She delivered the news. She suspected Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. She referred me to Dr. Donoway, and to Dr. Ramsey. I'll be eternally grateful. I called Dr. Donoway's office (this was the day before Thanksgiving) and set up an appointment for the day after Thanksgiving. I was pretty relieved when he told me about lumpectomy and radiation. I know how bad this scenario could have been. From there I had numerous diagnostics tests performed, PET Scans, CAT scans, some duplicate times. And at the end of the day I did have a successful removal of the tumor, which was 7mm, very small. This testing went from the beginning of December until the middle of March. I did have to have a second surgery, a resection and placement of the MammoSite balloon. I can only say great things about Dr. Botero and her staff. The radiation went without incident. It wasn't even that bad going twice a day as the facility was close to my home. I guess the worst part was the removal of the balloon, and that was only for a few seconds. I would recommend this treatment to any "candidate.” It was stressless and not impacting in the least. I did not choose to go out much due to my own "thing" about the tube in my chest, but that was just me.
This profile is solely the words of the person who received MammoSite Targeted Radiation Therapy to treat breast cancer. Note that this profile is specific to this particular person, and experiences will vary.
