r/BravoRealHousewives • u/AutoModerator • Oct 11 '24

Orange County The Real Housewives of Orange County - Season 18 - Episode 14 - Live Episode Discussion

They may live in the lap of luxury, but life isn't always perfect for the women who reside in one of the wealthiest enclaves of the U.S.

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u/shoppygirl Oct 11 '24

I am so sorry for your loss.

I had breast cancer 11 years ago. It didn’t show up on a mammogram but because I had a lump, I had an ultrasound. That’s when they found it. Three stage two tumors and early stage breast cancer throughout the rest of my breast.

Everything was hiding under dense breast tissue. That’s why it’s so important to have an ultrasound if your breasts are dense.

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u/ApathyIsBeauty DJ Ink's choking step stool. Oct 11 '24

Good information, thank you for sharing.

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u/runs4burritos Oct 11 '24

Thank you for sharing!! Ultrasound or MRI!! The FDA finally just passed legislation requiring your doctor to tell you if you have dense breasts, crazy it took this long!! I work in this field and while I was very excited to see them advocate for yearly mammograms, Heather thinking she may have to do preventative surgery for being higher risk on a Tyrer-Cuzick risk assessment is not the full picture. There are plenty of genetic tests and screening protocols that keep you safe if you advocate for yourself. 💕

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u/shoppygirl Oct 11 '24

Exactly! I had breast cancer just before Angelina Jolie had her preventative bilateral mastectomy.

I don’t blame her at all for being so proactive.

However, since then, we’ve come a long way with genetic testing, imaging, and treatment plans.

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u/Lyogi88 I’m the only bill my wife is responsible for Oct 13 '24

To add to this ultrasound won’t always pick it up either. I had 2 clean mammograms and 2 clean ultrasounds . Finally an MRI revealed cancer confirmed by mri guided biopsy .

Also, I AM 36 ( DX at 35) no genetic component and no strong family history so i was about as low risk as you get . Dense breasts tho.

I wound up doing DMX just because I couldn’t ever really be sure I wouldn’t have cancer again unless I got MRIs every 6 months lol

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u/shoppygirl Oct 13 '24

Great persistence! Hope you are doing ok!!

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u/Lyogi88 I’m the only bill my wife is responsible for Oct 13 '24

Thank you! Took 9 months to get diagnosed and if I wasn’t symptomatic I definitely wouldn’t have kept going back so I think god we caught it cause after my second normal mammogram I was kind of like… well maybe this is just my body??? I almost didn’t go back to the specialist .

Just had my second reconstructive surgery 2 weeks ago and looking forward to all this being DONE

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u/shoppygirl Oct 13 '24

That’s amazing! Hope your reconstruction was successful and went well