\\PCHIU//

Families and friends have been asking me how I find out my lump in my breats. Here is the story. (中文翻譯在下面)

6/15/2013 - Normal period starts as usual while I was in Michigan (with Ivy) visiting old friends from Findlay, OH, Wen, Kai-Kai, Leo, Katie, and Eric. Everything seems to be very normal as usual.

(Kai-Kai, Wen & I - Kai-Kai is sooo cute!!! 凱凱,倩雯跟我，凱凱真的好可愛喔！)

6/22/2013 - A week after the period starts usually is the time for all ladies to exam their breasts . I usually don't remember to exam my breats but this time I surprisingly remember. (Thanks to my friend Wen in MI. A week ago I went to visit Wen and her cute baby boy Kai-Kai, I saw Wen breast feeding and pumping and somehow reminding me to exam my breats. I somehow noticed a lump on the outside of my left breast. I felt a pain and tenderness.  I massaged it while showering but the lump didn't go away.  I also compared the mass to my right breast and no lump was found there. I felt weird and wanted to consult with my primary doctor.

7/1/2013 - I had an appointment with Dr. Savalia @ St. Jude Heritage in Yorba Linda, CA. Dr. Savalia checked my breasts and decided to order a Mammogram and Ultrasound for me.  

7/3/2013 - Day of Mammogram & Ultrasound.  Ultrasound technician, Cindy, looked at my profile and made an interesting comment on doing a mammogram and ultrasound at my age.  When she started ultrasound, she became quiet and said she needed to do a mammogram on me.  After the mammogram was done, she showed it to the radiologist and came back to tell me this: your report will send to Dr. Savalia and most likely she will call and refer you to a specialist. 

7/4/2013 - Independent's Day --YA!

7/5/2013 - Today is the company floating holiday (YA, I have total of 4 days off). Before lunch time, I received a call from Dr. Savalia and was told to make an appointment with Dr. Robina Smith, a breast surgeon. Dr. Savalia told me that the radiologist found some abnormal masses in my ultrasound and mammogram films. 

7/9/2013 - I had an appointment with Dr. Smith. Dr. Smith basically said the films show few abnormal masses and lots of DCIS in my left breast. To determine if these masses are cancer or not, a breast biopsy is required. I also noticed my left nipple started to have blood discharge. Dr. Smith wasn't worry about this and thought it might be just eczema. 

7/10/2013 - Dr. Smith ordered me a MRI for my breasts. This is my first and I have to lay like a superman. LOL!

7/11/2013 - Breast biopsy day. Ultrasound technician, Cindy, first checked my right breast per doctor's order to make sure if we need to do any biopsy on my right breast as well. It turned out that doctor also wants to get a sample from the right breast.  Dr. Arman Forouzannia, the radiologist, performed the biopsy on both breasts, 3 spots on the left and 1 spot on the right. Dr. Forouzannia used core needle biopsy and vacuum assisted biopsy.  It's really funny to hear the vacuum sucking noise which also has a huge needle stick into your breast. I was looking at the ultrasound while the doctor was getting the tissues. I was brave.  I can feel a huge pain from one of the spots on my left breast. I was joking with Dr. Forouzannia that I finally know how prime rib feels when we stick a thermometer into them. 

7/13/2013 - My lovely breasts were still in pain but I was crazy enough to go on the Ghostrider ride @ Knott's Berry Farm for the annual Frazer picnic. The ride was so crazy that I had to hold my breasts for the entire ride. It's really bad. In addition, my skin was allergic to the surgical tape which caused me to have a huge blood blister. 

7/15/2013 - Biopsy Result Day.  Simon and I were on time for my appointment with Dr. Smith. We were joking until Dr. Smith showed up and Dr. Smith brought another lady with her. I knew at that moment something is not right.  Just like what I expected, Dr. Smith told both of us that the biopsy results showed that I have breast cancer in my left breast. Biopsy did not show cancer cell in my lymph node of the left breast nor in my right breast.  (ER & PR - negative, HER2 - positive, and a mastectomy is required.) 7/15 is supposed to be a happy day because it is a pay day. But I don't feel happy at all.  The lady that Dr. Smith brought in is the nurse coordinator, Danelle Johnston. Danelle's role is to help me organize and navigate with all the doctors that I need to see.  Danelle quickly booked me to see Dr. Sanjay Sharma, an oncologist, in the afternoon and to talk about the possible cancer treatments. We were just overwhelmed and didn't know what to expect.
After meeting with Dr. Sharma, he is a very nice and friendly doctor. He knew that we just found out the news in the morning and were very overwhelmed.  He simply went through some treatments and answered our questions. He also ordered me two more tests,  PET Scan and brain MRI, to make sure there is no other cancer cell in my body.

  
（Upper Left: Left breat biopsy (Lymph node, & 2 spots); Bottom Middle: Right breat biopsy (1 spot only); Middle: blister from left breast; Upper Right: Changing gown for MRI/PEI; Bottom Right: Mu-Lan Wrap after breast biopsy; Bottom Left: PET Scan Isotope)

(左上:左胸三處切片(淋巴還有其他兩處; 左中圖:右胸一處切片; 中間圖:左胸五點鐘方向切片處起水泡之後裡面有血; 右上圖:換袍準備去做斷層還有正子; 右下圖: 胸部切片完後整個是花木蘭綁胸一樣; 左下圖: 左手插滿管子注射顯影劑做正子檢查)

Being diagnosed with cancer sucks especially at such an early age that, you don't even expect it. However, it does happen and I know I have to face this and kick ass on this. Something must be done to help me get over this such as changing my lifestyle, diet, being positive, letting go all of my invisible pressures, and starting to exercise,..etc. I didn't know why I didn't cry when Dr. Smith told me I got the breast cancer. I think I may have already thought about this and prepared myself for the worst situation. I think it's my time to take a break from my busy lifestyle and work. Now it's time for me to slow down and enjoy my life a little. 

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很多朋友都問我，我是怎麼發現我的乳房腫塊，現在讓我來跟大家分享一下。

6/15/2013 - 五月底才剛從台灣回來，六月中跟我的好朋友Ivy去密西根探望倩雯，凱凱, Leo, Katie 還有Eric。很開心能又再度在東岸重逢，見見老朋友們。從密西根回來前夕，剛好我的大姨媽也來拜訪我。

6/22/2013 - 通常大姨媽過完的一個禮拜後，女孩子要好好替自己做乳房檢查，至於怎麼檢查網路上都可以找得到，我就不多說啦！我也是個懶人，沒有每個月定期自我乳房檢查，剛好這一次因為看了倩雯媽媽在餵哺母乳讓我一時想起要檢查乳房，我發現我的左邊胸部外圍會疼痛，有一顆不小的硬塊（右邊乳房沒有硬塊也不痛），看來是要預約家庭醫生了來做個檢查了。

7/1/2013 - 在我的家庭醫生Dr. Savalia (一位印度女醫生) 檢查之後，醫生也發現有異狀，所以送我去做乳房超音波跟乳房攝影。

7/3/2013 - 今天是做乳房超音波跟乳房攝影的日子，從來沒做過這些檢查的我，感覺很有趣也很新鮮。幫我檢查的超音波師是一位大約五十幾歲的白人名叫Cindy，她看了一下我的病理資料跟我開了個玩笑說，你這麼年輕怎麼被送來做檢查，讓我來好好幫你在做一次檢查，在Cindy的巧手檢查之下也發現我左邊的乳房似乎有個腫塊，接下來就是做超音波來看個仔細啦！超音波挺有趣的，塗上一層透明涼涼的乳膠，一開始我跟Cindy還有說有笑的，之後她突然開始很專心的在拍照就沒跟我說太多話了，做完超音波後Cindy說，她還是要幫我做個乳房攝影來確定一下。看到網路上還有聽朋友口述的乳房攝影經驗談中，似乎是痛到一種程度，不過等我做完我倒是覺得還好，我右邊的乳房怎麼壓都沒有感覺，不過左邊就不一樣囉，正面壓沒事，側面壓到是把我壓得哀哀叫。攝影完後，Cindy把片子拿給放射科醫生過目，又再回到攝影房跟我說，這些片子的報告會傳給我的家庭醫生Dr. Savalia，Cindy也提到我的家庭醫生可能會把我的病理資料轉給乳房專科醫生來診斷，看來這件事情不是我想像中的簡單囉！不過當時的我還是深信，這個腫塊應該是乳房纖維囊腫之類的，沒事沒事！

7/4/2013 - 美國國慶日，放假一天！

7/5/2013 - 今天公司讓員工放假（連休四天耶！）所以今天在家好好整理，快到中午接到Dr. Savalia的電話，正如Cindy所說，我的家庭醫生收到放射科醫生讀完的報告中得知，放射科醫生在我照的超音波跟乳房攝影的片子當中有發現到一些不正常的細胞，需要做進一步的追蹤。電話裡家庭醫生也提到說要幫我轉診到乳房專科醫生，要我馬上打電話給Dr. Smith的診所跟助理約時間。

7/9/2013 - 今天是跟乳房外科醫生Dr. Robina Smith見面，她是一位黑人女醫生，(年齡大約也是四十出頭)，我在去之前有Google一下醫生的資料，病人對醫生的評語到是挺不錯的。Dr. Smith沒太多說什麼，只是把我拍的片子跟我解釋了一下，我的乳房攝影的片子中有顯示出我的左胸有很一大片的鈣化點，至於超音波有幾顆形狀怪異的細胞還有可疑的淋巴，為了要確定這些可疑的細胞是不是癌細胞，必須要做進一步的切片檢查才能得知。我也告訴醫生我發現我左邊乳頭有一點出血，醫生沒有太奇怪的反應，要我多觀察幾天，說不定是濕疹之類的。另外Dr. Smith也幫我預約了做了乳房MRI (核磁共振)以便做進一步的評估。

7/10/2013 - 今天是做乳房MRI的日子，感覺很特別，一向都是在電影還有網路上看到的機器，現在換我來做檢查了。整個檢查挺快的，臉部跟胸部朝下（好像在做按摩一樣），乳房要放置在兩個已經挖好的空隙中，進進出出幾次ＭＲＩ的大機器，就好啦！

7/11/2013 - 今天是做乳房切片的日子。上次幫我做超音波檢查的Cindy又出現啦，上次她只有幫我的左邊胸部做超音波，這次應放射科醫生的要求，右邊的乳房也要做超音波檢查，要是有發現細胞異常，今天可以一併取細胞做切片。照完片子之後，放射科的醫生也決定要在右邊胸部取一小塊細胞來化驗。重點來啦，Dr. Arman Forouzannia，他是一位來自波斯的男醫生(年約四十出)，是今天要幫我做切片醫生。他人很好很風趣，他今天要在我的左胸部取三個細胞，右胸部取一個細胞來做化驗。醫生分別是用粗針跟真空兩種方式來收取可疑細胞，在要抽取的部位先上局部麻藥，局部麻藥還真是麻跟痛，這讓我想起之前要拔牙上麻藥前我都要緊緊抓著手把，這次也不例外。整個切片過程超音波師拿著超音波攝像頭來引導醫生插針，而我這個好奇寶寶也是全程看著超音波上的銀幕，看著醫生插針。粗針沒什麼特別，就是比較粗的一根針以方便抽許多一些可以細胞來化驗，真空抽取就比較特別了，再抽取的過程可以聽到好像吸塵器的聲音在真空吸取細胞，當然因為真空抽取的針比較大支，所以傷口也比較大一些。其中令我印象最深當然也是最痛的切片處就是我左胸五點鐘方向，一來要抽取的細胞比較深層，二來醫生在將真空收取針插入時另外一手沒有在我胸部的另一邊當輔助 (或許超音波師應該要協助一下的)，所以整個胸部因為插針動作的關係，胸部也被推擠向後，痛到我的叫了一聲，阿～～之後我跟醫生開玩笑說，我終於知道烤雞跟烤大塊牛肉的痛處了。我們在做西式料理時，為了要知道肉裡面的溫度是否到位，會將溫度計插入整隻雞跟牛排中。雞跟牛倒是不會像我一樣大叫，不過那一針的切片真的是讓我永生難忘阿！

7/13/2013 - 這天是一年一度的公司暑期活動，今年是要去ＬＡ一個史奴比主題樂園（Knott's Berry Farm)。現在回想起來，我看我真得是瘋了，明明兩天前才剛做完乳房切片，傷口都還沒復元，我就跟Simon, Maggie, Kavan 一起去坐瘋狂雲霄飛車，整個過程真的驚險刺激，我從以前坐雲霄飛車都是把兩隻手高舉，不過這次我兩隻手是全程抱著胸部，避免胸部在飛車過程當中晃得太猛，不過當時還真的是晃得太猛，有痛到！另外，不知道是我的皮膚對手術膠布過敏還是當時在做切片時真空切片針太燙，在膠布邊緣上長出一個大水泡，之後裡面還有血，怪怪！

7/15/2013 - 今天是看切片報告日。Simon跟我很準時到達Dr. Smith的診所聽取報告，一直到醫生進來之前我們倆都還一直在開玩笑，直到醫生開門並且後頭跟著一位女生，我心想情況不妙囉！這同我心裡想的一樣，Dr. Smith跟我們說，切片的報告回來告知說我的左邊胸部取的三個可疑細胞（兩個細胞一個淋巴），兩個細胞都有癌細胞，淋巴沒有癌細胞（感謝佛/老天），右邊胸部的細胞裡面並沒有發現癌細胞。細胞組織學的報告中提到我是ＥＲ跟ＰＲ陰性（賀爾蒙），不過ＨＥＲ２是呈陽性反應（ＨＥＲ２過度分裂反應），這裡我就不多做解釋了，網路上都可以找到這些乳癌病因資訊。Dr. Smith說因為我左胸的涵蓋的可疑範圍太大(兩個癌細胞分別是在左胸外側一點鐘跟五點鐘方向），所以醫生的建議是要左胸全切以避免後患。

跟在Dr. Smith身後的女生是Danelle Johnston，她是一個扮演在病人跟醫生中協調的角色（跟台灣的個管師好像不一樣），我要看哪個醫生（乳房外科，腫瘤內科，放射科，整形外科）都可以透過Danelle來幫我協調，不過這一陣子我發現，Danelle實在是太忙，她一個人好像是全部癌症病房的協調者一樣，很多事情我也就自己聯絡，不打擾她了！Dr. Smith在當天下午幫我約了跟腫瘤內科醫生見面，中午回到公司，跟老闆報告了這個壞消息，勉勉強強吃了點中餐，下午請了假就去醫院報到了。Dr. Sanjay Sharma是我的腫瘤內科醫生，一看到名字我就知道這位醫生是一位印度醫生內，我怕他的口音我聽不懂，幸好Simon跟我一起去幫幫我這個耳朵。沒想到一見到Dr. Sharma（年約四十二）且聽他講話，怪怪，英文完全沒有口音而且還挺帥挺可愛的醫生哩！下午的門診也沒特別提到什麼，有點像是Ｑ＆Ａ，Dr. Sharma跟我們講了一些基本癌症治療的程序跟方式，也幫我預約了做腦部的核磁共振還有正子掃描檢查，以確定我身體其他處沒有癌細胞。

說實在的，檢查出來是乳癌挺不甘的，我都還沒生小孩也還沒餵母乳就要接受這種殘酷的命運，而且我還很年輕吧（呵呵），天阿！不過爬了很多文章發現，也有很多跟我年紀差不多的病友，很多得乳癌的病友都可能是因為生活壓力的關係，有時候想想或許是我工作壓力太大飲食不正常所引起的，不過如何得病我也真的不知道，總之，我的人生從7/15/2013這天開始就不一樣了，我從一個健康人變成一個病人，很多生活習慣跟飲食都要改變，最重要心態也要改變。或許是老天覺得我太累，要我好好休息，把腳步放慢來好好欣賞這個世界。抗癌是一條漫長的路，我會一步一步的慢慢走！(待續)