Patch Editor Prepares to Battle Breast Cancer

Written by Wendy Ann Mitchell (Patch Staff)

If you live in the greater Danbury area and are a Patch reader, you may have wondered what happened to me. I’ve run into people who have said, “Your name used to pop up in my inbox every day. Where have you been?”

I’ve been here-- battling breast cancer. Ironically, I got the news on Feb. 4, World Cancer Day. Here is what it feels like when you hear those dreaded four words; for a few seconds, you can’t breathe. You feel like you’re choking. Life comes to a screeching halt. You think about your kids and how they will go on without their mom....and what about your husband....you feel like you’ve been given a death sentence. The doctor’s words echo in your mind before settling down into your head and into reality, “You have breast cancer.”

After you hang up the phone and tell your husband, who already knows by the look on your face, you hear yourself say it out loud for the first time, “I have breast cancer.” So many thoughts go swirling through your head. This can’t be real. Nobody in my family has cancer so how could I have it? Has it spread? More thoughts go swirling through your brain. Wait, is it in my brain? How will they know?

I never remember to do monthly self breast exams because I have gone for my mammogram every year since I turned 40. I thought I was low risk; no history in my family, not a smoker, get checked every year. But that didn’t matter.

I found the lump while dying my hair, like I do every six weeks or so, when I dropped a glob of it on my left breast. When I went to wipe it off I felt it. I told my husband who reassuringly said, “Oh, it’s probably nothing,” and so I tried to talk myself out of it. Maybe it’s just hormonal changes? I just turned 45. Maybe. But I just couldn’t shake the worry and tossed and turned in bed all night.

The next morning, I called my doctor who brought me into the office right away. I was hoping when I got there he was going to say “it’s nothing,” or “it’s just a cyst.” I thought wrong. I was going to need a biopsy.

“It’s a good thing you came in when you did. Your last mammogram looked clear,” the doctor said. I tried to let the words sink in before he continued, “This grew really fast.”

We trudged through three Mondays of trying not to worry about ”The C Word” while driving through three snowstorms for each doctor’s appointment for the initial checkup, the mammogram and ultrasound and then the biopsy.

Once the news sank in after the biopsy I quickly decided that my diagnosis had to be about more than just me. I need to help others. I will get through this fight by sharing my story with humor and positivity to inspire others and save lives through an awareness campaign I created.

I started the social media awareness campaign to remind people of the importance of doing monthly self breast exams. Women and men are encouraged to participate. We already have some “moobs” (man boobs) shared on Facebook!

Here is how it works:

1. Take a selfie with your clothed left boob prominently displayed (click here for examples)
2. Post your selfie on Facebook, Instagram and/or Twitter, use the hash tag #MyLeftBoob and the tag me @WendiPopRock
3. Share and tag your family and friends so they will do it too!

In just one month I’ve had four women tell me they are doing self exams thanks to my awareness campaign. One found a lump and is going for her mammogram next week. I hope, like me, she found it early. If I can help save a life through this, then it is all worth it.

Check back tomorrow as I share the type, stage and treatment plan. Click here for more info.

Photo: Wendy Mitchell Credit: Alan Barry Photography

Wendy Mitchell is a wife and mother of three children (14, 19, 25) and the editor of Newtown, Monroe, Shelton, Bethel, Brookfield, Danbury, Ridgefield, Wilton, Weston-Redding-Easton Patch sites. She lives in Bethel, Conn. with her family and one-year-old black lab rescue puppy. While on medical leave she will be sharing her journey on Patch. Click here to read more.