A Friend's Experience Saved My Life
••• Please feel free to share my experience with
anyone you know.•••
| 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. |
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
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