A Friend's Experience Saved My Life

Please feel free to share my experience with anyone you know.

Many years ago this month, my friend Phyllis went to her doctor.

"Doc," she said, "there's a lump in my breast."

"There, there sweetie," quoth the doc. "It's nothing. Come back and see me in 6 months."

Six months later, Phyllis's cancer had metastasized into her bones. She died soon thereafter.

Thirteen years ago, I felt a lump. Not one but two doctors told me it could not be cancer because

(1) it did not show on the mammogram;

(2) it hurt;

(3) it was mobile;

(4) it was too small.

I remembered Phyllis. I demanded a biopsy. The biopsy took twenty minutes under local anesthetic. My insurance covered 100% of the cost. The tumor was malignant. I had a lumpectomy and radiation.

I am here, thirteen years later. Tomorrow morning, I am having breakfast with Phyllis' mother, as I have done nearly every month since Phyllis died. The day I told her that Phyllis had saved my life? Neither of us ate much that day. And I've promised her I would pass on this story as often as I could.

ALWAYS GET A BIOPSY!

Susan Klee, Berkeley,CA

Updated 05/27/2007