May All of Your Smiles Be Big
Kristen’s Story
Written by: Kristen Dupree
In early January of 2020, I began to experience sharp sporadic pain in my left breast. I’d never been one to perform my own breast exam as I would have been in the doctor’s office every week for lumps I “thought” I felt. But I had also never experienced any pain or discomfort in my breasts, and I knew I better get in with my OBGYN as soon as I could.
February 13th was my breast exam and my doctor seemed to think it was a cyst as it was a round lump. She explained that breast cancer usually felt like “tree roots” or “fingers” and usually was not round. She also said that breast cancer usually doesn’t cause pain, and therefore sent me to the Radiology Department for a mammogram instead of to the Breast Cancer Center to verify if it were indeed a cyst.
On March 5th I had my very first mammogram at 37 years old. I went by myself as I was under the impression it was just a cyst and wasn’t too concerned. Once the initial mammogram was performed, the results were sent immediately to the on-site Radiologist who then wanted a more in-depth look with an ultrasound of both breasts. As I sat by myself in the waiting room for the staff to get the ultrasound table ready, it quickly hit me that this could actually be more than a cyst, and here I was sitting there alone to digest this. I wished I had someone there with me to lean on at that very moment as I began to get more concerned, nervous, and cry at the reality that I could have breast cancer.
After my scans were sent off, I received a call from the Radiology Department that I should further investigate and was then scheduled for the first round of biopsies for March 11th. I made sure that I had the support of family at this appointment. During the ultrasound-guided biopsy, the Radiologist also noticed an area under my arm around lymph nodes that he also biopsied. Then on March 16th, I received the call that confirmed it was in fact Stage 2B breast cancer.
I’ve always been very spiritual with firm Christian beliefs, and I immediately wanted to question God, “Why me?”, but why not me? We will all have our life story to tell one day and I thank God for another chance to move on from this and be able to tell mine. I have heard so many powerful and positive survivor stories and I know and trust in the Lord that I will be able to tell the same type of story when all of this is over and behind me.