Scan Results & Surgery Decision | My Cancer Story 

As a retired nurse who is now going through a complex diagnostic process for a very rare type of breast cancer. Paget's disease of the breast. I am finding out that my experience as a patient is a WHOLE other world than my experience as a health care provider (obvious right!). I so appreciate hearing the experience/process that others are so graciously sharing online.

You’re right. People without cancer cannot contemplate how difficult and complicated these decisions can be. You made the right decision for you. I thank you for sharing your story and pray that you are getting better each day.

Even at the young age of 22, you were so mature and amazing with you’re thoughtfulness for others. I vaguely remember being 22 (that was 18ish years ago) and I definitely didn’t think this maturely and rationally then. You’re an amazing person, Samantha.

You’re so so right that nothing makes sense when you have cancer. I was diagnosed with breast cancer back in 2014, luckily for me I beat it the same year. It was a nightmare journey as my mum’s partner Lew who was like a father to me was dying from pancreatic cancer at the same time. I initially had a lumpectomy, followed by further surgery to try to get clear margins which was successful, then I had chemo and a left mastectomy without reconstruction. And am now nearly seven years clear, taking tamoxifen every day. Stay as strong as you are, your attitude mirrors mine completely. Positivity really does help on this awful awful journey.

Haha! Well said. I definitely feel you. People have no idea what it’s REALLY like to make these type of decisions. It isn’t as easy or as “common sense” as they think. It’s intense. Thanks for sharing! Keep fighting! 💪🏽Prayers and blessings. 🌸💕

You are too young to have such intense decisions to make, but as you said, you have loved ones to support you all the way. Sorry to hear about the rib. Best of luck on your surgery and upcoming radiation. You are amazing, so mature and highly intelligent. As always, sending you big hugs.

Good luck on your upcoming surgery. I am currently 1 month post op from mastectomy and have done well. Drains were not as bad as I had anticipated and they were removed 2 weeks ago. You will do great!

A friend of mine was just diagnosed with breast cancer this past week. I’m going to highly recommend your videos to her as she makes her decision on how to fight her cancer. You are such a blessing and have so much to offer those going through a difficult situation like yours. Thank you for taking the time to describe what’s involved and how you carefully thought through each step. It’s invaluable to know how and why you reached the decisions you did. And by the way, my mom got breast cancer at age 23 when she was pregnant with her first child. She had a mastectomy as there were not many choices when she was diagnosed. At that time they didn’t offer radiation or chemotherapy. She lived until she was 88 and never had a recurrence of cancer of any kind. We were very fortunate to have her in our lives for as long as we did. I wish she had lived in a different time and had someone like you to help guide her through it. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart.❤️❤️❤️

I definitely feel you! This time last year I had just been diagnosed with lacrimal (i.e. tear) gland cancer and was deciding between 3 options: 1. Radical surgery to remove my entire eye and surrounding tissue. 2. Radiotherapy to my eye which would cause it to be extremely dry and painful, loss of vision and development of a cataract. It would also involve a lot of radiation to my brain which could cause cognitive issues and increased risk of secondary cancer. 3. Hope that my initial surgery to remove my tumour (akin to a lumpectomy, I guess) was sufficient and that the tumour was contained to its capsule as pathology suggested and monitor things closely with regular MRIs. After an absolute roller coaster and getting opinions from around the world, I ended up going with option 3 as it was my only chance at a ‘normal’ life. A year on I’m not out of the woods yet but things are looking as good as they can be and that’s all I can ask for!

It was great to see the whole thought process. Sad to hear the bad news but hopefully you'll be done with it soon. Good luck on your surgery ❤️

Completely agree with you at the very beginning of your video clip here. Observers can make suggestions purely rationally simply because they don’t have to involve in that situation emotionally, like the victim. As the first person, things become trickier since a lot more consideration has to be taken into account.

Youre such a brave , inspiring woman ! 😍😘😗😚😙😚😚😚😗 You are so fantastic and amzing and thanks for showing us positivity xx also ,thanks for educating us .x 😚😚

I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer Nov 5, 2020, they are calling it stage 2B/grade 3 and they can give me a better idea on my for sure stage after surgery. I did 4 rounds of the AC chemo treatment and going on round 9 of 12 taxol chemo. My surgery plan from the start was to do a double mastectomy with breast reconstruction but now that I know I am BRACCA negative as well as negative for other cancer genetics my surgery plan may change but i will do whatever my dr recommends me to do for surgery even if it’s still the double mastectomy. I haven’t seen my breast surgeon since the start of this all and Im sure I’ll be getting my appointment with my breast surgeon soon now that I’m at the end of my treatment. You are a strong warrior princess my friend. Together we will fight this journey with many others and will be supportive of each other💗Sending love from Kentucky

You are so very brave. Thank you for the update, and I am looking forward to the coming updates. You are amazing.

I found your channel today 😘 and I think you do a beautiful job by learning us the difficulties about all the choices you have to make when you are ill. And I think that is not only the case when you have cancer, I think that counts for all the heavy illnesses. And I think lots of people are lonely in their choices. Those put a huge burden on them. And it is something that is almost never discussed. The same applies to the bureaucracy that you often end up in as a sick person. People don’t realize that either and that certainly plays a huge role in the more rare diseases. Especially when people end up with permanent disabilities...and especially especially those disabilities are invisible like tiredness or pain or brain fog....or something are as never being able to breastfeed in the future....(this is of course no bureacracy, but you know what I mean...) Healthy people tend to think you are only working on getting better, but it is simply much more complex. Therefor really really thanks for this video. You explain it so clear and really well👍🏻

You are a very together person. I admire your strength.

my breasts I haven't used them for anything they have just been there forever , you are so funny

So cleverly said. So much wisdom and only 22.

I understand everyone is different and that’s cool. As for me, I’m much older and I want to avoid any more surgeries so I did the double mastectomy and I went flat. I don’t what I felt was right for me. And everybody has to do what’s right for them. I don’t care what other people think of me. I’m just happy to be alive.

Prayers coming your way! Go away Cancer! Leave her alone!

I think you made the right choice

You and I are very closely aligned in our dates of diagnosis, treatment etc. Like you..no wig here! 😀 I had a bilateral mastectomy in August 2019 without reconstruction but I'm 54. Even as confident of a person as I am I still get get self-conscious about my clothes. I support you whatever you decide is best for you and your life!!!

Really great information, thank you for sharing it. So useful for anyone facing this very tough choice. Good luck with the surgery on Monday. Just take it one day at a time and get plenty of rest.

You are so young but very smart and positive!God bless

I had to have a mastectomy...no choice so I went with a bilateral with recon with implants. I don't regret my decision to remove the healthy breast one bit! Someone told me "if I had cancer I wouldn't (insert decision here)." I said exactly what you did. You don't know what you'd do! It's easy to say what you would or wouldn't do when you hypothetically have cancer. Not so easy when you're actually dealing with cancer.

"but really, you don't have to and; nothing makes sense". love this haha.

God bless you, may you happily and successfully get rid of these whole cancer cells. Aameen

Thank you for the update,and good luck with your surgery.

Hello so nice to see you and I think you are extremely helpful to people by sharing your story with all of us I got here and RU-vid land❤️👍🏻 I agree about people deciding what they would do or should do who have never had cancer themselves! I must say I have been closely involved with cancers of different kinds because of family members. Let me just list a few lung cancer, leukemia, breast cancer . Throat cancer, And uterine cancer. I am being completely forthright and honest here. Obviously there are decisions to be made with each of these different cancers by each of the individuals. And of course many doctors that are involved along the way. But people do need to be humble and mindful the decision should always be left up to the individual right for their own decision making!!! The port not direct is the way to go people🙏🤗🙋🏻‍♀️

The choice you make is YOUR decision and no other opinions matter. Making a choice at 22 is very different than if you are much older. Best wishes.

Did anyone tell you that there are cells in your body that could turn to cancer cells at any time, the pet scan only shows the cancerous cells. Scary to me, I have only had lung cancer twice so far and is different than what you have. Best of luck, sounds like you have a good team and support group!

God be with you.❤️

The reason for my mastectomy was that though my tumour had been removed the rest of the cells in my breast were starting to show changes toward cancer so it was thought better to go ahead with the op to ensure my cancer doesn’t return.

PS love the decorum of your bedroom Samantha🤗

i had a lumpectomy and no lymph nodes were involved. but i had to do chemo for a year (the sickest i've ever been in my life) and radiation(the most pain i've ever had). cancer was gone, but something about HER neg? or something like that that made my chances of cancer coming back were high. so, we do the chemo and radiation as precautionary measures. that was early '16. at the end of chemo and radiation, my left lung collapses. the cancer had been in the right breast. i had a drain tube, emergency so no anesthesia, put in. in the hospital for a week. went to my daughter's to recuperate and 4 hrs later, it collapsed again. almost didn't make it this time. more new holes for drainage. the next day, surgery to blow talc in to keep my pleuri stuck so my lung won't collapse again. on oxygen for a year 24/7 until recently only when i sleep. in the meantime, my right breast has shrunk to 1/3 the size of my left one. and alot of scar tissue. i'm hoping they can hack off enough of the left one to match the right. they were way too big, anyhow. i'm convinced that the radiation went through to the left lung and damaged it. so, just some problems you might check into. if i'd had the option, i woulda had a double mastectomy and been done with it. i caught it so early that i just needed a lumpectomy. hey, but i'm alive and kickin'. lol. good luck, kiddo. i've got two daughters that i worry about all the time. prayers

Good luck on your surgery

Wow...so much info. Your poor brain. Alright hoping for clear margins... I think I’m doing a unilateral mastectomy...I just had my MRI so not sure yet but I love all the info you just gave. I would really love just a lumpectomy and I hope yours goes really well, it’s coming up so fast! xo

Best of luck!

You are great. Good luck girl. I'm 22 and there is a bump in my left breast and I have to go to doctor but I don't know how can I say it to my mom. Actually it's 4 years that I feel it but we went to doctor before (4 years ago) and she said it's nothing. But now it became bigger. I'm really scared because it's 4 years 🥺

Sounds like good lodgic at work to come to your decision. All the best for you. Stay strong.

Good luck young lady, my prayers are with you, I respect you, and you are a inspiration to myself and many.

I think you made the right decision. I made that decision, too. I don’t regret it. My story is similar.

You are strong and courageous human.

I hope everything went well Samantha!!!!

ITS horrible for your body when you have chemo. It can everlasting detrimental affects later in life. Robin on komo news has had it reoccured but not from original problem but because the chemo caused it. 3 different cancers from chemo and she is facing another. Your body never forgets! This is 2022 I hope your doing ok.

K I’m at 16 minutes and your cat is cracking me up. I’ll be back to comment at the end lol

You have a perfect head shape anyway. You are young so your decision. I have a friend 72 she has removal of lump, both hers are different sizes. So she does have problem with getting clothes. 🙏

the blue screen at the beginning scared me I thought it was my PC problem

I’m praying for you on whichever decision you make 😀 also, my friend used her stomach fat to fill in where her breasts used too be

You are beautiful. Bless you 😊

Hi I know I’m ver late but I’m here to let you know everything will be okay I had Hodgkins lymphoma when I was 11 years old Went to another country to get chemotherapy took more than a year to treat 100% BUT now after 5 years I’m cancer free and it’s such great story to tell people and to be proud of yourself . Cancer is hard I know but I’m Grateful because this experience made me learn a lot of myself and made me appreciate everything that I have 🖤

"I don't have to, and nothing makes sense." If that doesn't describe everything to do with cancer treatment, I don't know what does. LMAO

How is your dad dealing with the knowledge he carried this mutation? I would imagine that is super hard for him, and I hope he gets some therapy. I say this as a geneticist.

Praying for you! I have stage four metastatic breast cancer and have been fighting for twenty years . If you have any questions feel free to ask. This is the whole reason I wanted to start my own channel, be there for others newer to the fight.

I have been able to shrink my tumors and they are shrinking more every day (by leaps and bounds). At this rate they should completely disappear within the next couple of months. I was diagnosed with a stage 4 Her2 positive breast cancer (fairly fast moving) and Chemo is not the answer for most cancers, there is a much better way -- most people do not survive it long term and hundreds are curing themselves naturally.

Wow, I wonder if that's part of the reason why my aunt went with a lumpectomy for her breast cancer. This is a decision I have thought about often since breast cancer runs in my family and I know that it could be in my future...Like you, I've always been of the mind that the breasts are just there and don't serve any real purpose outside of breastfeeding, and that I would choose the double mastectomy without the reconstructive surgery for many of the same reasons you talked about. Being a larger gal who is overly blessed in the chest I wouldn't miss the extra weight and would be fine with using knitted knockers ( in case anyone reads this comment & has no idea what I'm talking about, you can learn more about knitted knockers at www.knittedknockers.org ) when out and about--but that's good to know that it could make the treatment harder and whatnot.

I chose the same thing and had the same cancer diagnosis. I had two masses in the same breast. Doctors really wanted me to get both breasts removed. However, I didn't have to get chemo before or after surgery. I decided on holistic treatment instead of radiation. I actually started treatment before surgery, and it killed the smaller of the two masses and shrunk the larger one by the same size. Alternative treatment was the better option for me. Doctors were HORRIFIED! 😂😂😂😂 Today, I've entered year five cancer free!

Beautiful kitty cat

Can I ask which mutation you have. I’ve tested negative to all the common mutations but my family history would indicate that I would have one

I am just watching this now...depending on the kind of cancer is how you make that decision I walked down this road with my husband it was dreadful. They do that surgery at once double mastectomy and implants immediately. I'm sorry you have to walk this road so young. Praying for you.

Thanks for your shareng story .God bless you.nakaka challenge.

no meat no dairy

I'm in the same boat and if it can come back in my mind you can have both of my breasts and I would want to have reconstruction as well....I still want to feel like a girl and look like one.❤️

Did u have your surgery sweetheart??

I cannot imagine having the chutzpah to say to someone who has cancer, "If I had cancer, I'd do x, y, and z". That's way too nervy for me. And people who ask you why you don't have any hair and might (probably would, sadly) ask about the mastectomy are being flat out rude and they should mind their own business. They don't deserve explanations about anything.

I can tell you a scenario about pet scans..

God please bring antineoplasons to light. It's a beautiful cure that works where chemo stops working. I cannot promote it enough. I just wish it was brought to light. only a famous name can get it out there as it needs to be. I wish more than anything that it would be as available as chemo and all that. I would give my life to get this out and available. It means that much to me. if it comes back please look in to this treatment. what would it hurt.

I would do the double. Just to stop it spreading over there.

A lumpectomy with radiation equals mastectomy

❤️❤️❤️🙏🙏🙏

a weird question , I think you aren't gonna respond but anyway for me as a Muslim if I had cancer or such hard diseases the first thing I fear is death just because of confronting god , he is gonna ask me about my sins I have done , that's harder than death itself , is that in your mind or no I want to know how Christians and other people think about that

Oh every one is different breastfeeding can be so hard for some...your not missing anything

💖💖💖xx