“The nurse said she felt a lump and needed to see my GP immediately.”
Tracy was worried, but her mind was on Lee at the time. She made an appointment and was told to have a mammogram and ultrasound.
Tracy knew something was wrong when she saw tears in the technician’s eyes.
“My GP called me and when I went back to see him he said there was a mass and he was making an appointment to see a breast surgeon.The doctor then sent me for a biopsy and then went back to see me again. I went to the doctor’s office. I had another ultrasound and received the biopsy results. All of this happened within two days.
“He came back from his desk, grabbed my hand and said, ‘I’m sorry, you have breast cancer.’ This was the second day and I was alone. Then he said, ‘I’m sorry, but you have breast cancer.’ Everything was a blur.”
Tracey sobbed in the car on the way back to the Royal Children’s Hospital, but was able to pull herself together for her son and family.
Her official diagnosis was early breast cancer, also known as eBC. People sometimes refer to eBC as the “good cancer” because it has a relatively high five-year survival rate. But for Tracy, “good cancer” meant undergoing chemotherapy, a lumpectomy, and ultimately a double mastectomy.
The experience was incredibly draining on Tracy’s mental health. Tracy was dealing with the physical strain of treatment while also providing care for her family.
