Video Transcript
Hi, my name is Lynda and my breast surgeons were Dr. Mora and Dr. On, and my plastic surgeon was Dr. Barry Douglas. In August of 2020, I had an MRI of the breast, which was routine for me. Every year I was having it. And it was fine. And then in October I had my routine mammo/sono and then I was called back. And when the radiologist came in and she was doing the sonogram, I’m like, there’s something up, this isn’t usual. And then she said to me, “I would like to have you go for a core biopsy.” I kind of felt alone because I’m a widow and my husband passed 20 years ago. And when you need somebody, these are the times that you need somebody. And not having my husband with me was a sad thing. It was difficult.
My sister-in-law took me for the core biopsy. I said, “No, I’m fine, I’ll be okay.” And she said, “No, I’m taking you.” Which you need somebody there because it was just something… You can’t be the lone cowboy all the time. You have to have somebody to support you. When you get your diagnosis, I think, you know already, because you’ve gone through a mammo/sono, a repeat mammo/sono. Now they’re sending you for a stereotactic biopsy, core biopsy. By that point, you know. It’s not like I was upset. I didn’t break down and cry. I just said, “Okay, Lord, it’s in your hands. We’re going through this together. Because I’m not handling it by myself.” It was all good at that point, I knew I was going forward because when you get the diagnosis, that’s what you want to do.
Being an OR nurse, you know. A lot of people. You know a lot of doctors, Dr. Mora actually works with Dr. Douglas. Had it not been Dr. Mora, I would’ve chosen Dr. Douglas anyway. He is an artist. He is truly an artist. I’ve seen pictures that he’s drawn, and he sees things in such a beautiful way. And his surgery is done in the same way. When I first started in the operating room in ’87, treatment of breast cancer was entirely different from what we’re doing today. And we’re very fortunate to have what we have today, because there’s so much of the conservation. Back then, it wasn’t a thing. If you had breast cancer, basically you were going to have a mastectomy.
On the right breast where the cancer was. It was a lumpectomy, and then he did an oncoplasty. And then on the left side, he did mastopexy so that I was even. I mean, I knew Dr. Douglas was going to do a fantastic job anyway, but I was really very pleased because I was lopsided anyway. We all are. I was very pleased. It gives hope. And that’s what people that are going into this journey need, is to grab onto something.
