Breast cancer survivor Tracy discusses her diagnosis & experience with a bilateral mastectomy
Tracy talks about why she chose to have a bilateral mastectomy when she was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer and why she hid this information from her mother, a two-time breast cancer survivor.
Transcript
When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, the first thing I thought about was my mom, who is a three-time survivor.
All I could think about was, I definitely don't want to go through this again. [FOREBODING MUSIC]
My sister and I talked about going to get mammograms-- actually, for years. And then we finally just said, OK, we're
making these appointments-- after my mom's second bout with cancer. I was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer.
I opted to have a bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction because it was the most effective way
to not have breast cancer return, and I didn't have to have chemotherapy or radiation.
Telling my mother was the hardest. When I got diagnosed, I did not tell her. What I found out way after the fact was,
she had gotten diagnosed for a third time at the same time I had gotten diagnosed. I didn't tell her, and she didn't tell me.
My mother and I talked about it, why did we keep it from each other. And we were both trying to protect each other. When I went through my recovery, my mom
came back and said-- she said, you know what I realized? I had to get it again for you to save your life.
[FOREBODING MUSIC] [AUDIO LOGO]
breast cancer
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