Pauletta Wilson was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2022 after a clear mammogram in March the same year. After a work colleague was diagnosed with breast cancer and urged her to check her breasts, she found a lump in the shower that night. Following a year of treatment: including chemotherapy, mastectomy and radiation, she is now cancer free. Pauletta is speaking out to urge all women to know their normal and check their breasts, even if they’ve had a mammogram recently.
Before my diagnosis, I didn’t really understand I should be checking my breasts regularly after I started scheduled screening. It wasn’t until a friend had just had her first mammogram and found a very small lump that she reminded me to check my own. Hey presto! There was a lump that had obviously been brewing away for those nine months. I count her has helping to save my life.
After my journey with breast cancer, I now know that dense breast tissue can mask lumps, and I have found from old GP notes that I do have very dense breast tissue. Because of this, I need to be even more vigilant with checking.
Initially I paid for private scans including an MRI, ultrasound, chest x-ray and had two biopsies and 3 private breast specialist appointments. I’m so thankful I was able to be seen quickly and had the money to pay for private tests. The specialist wrote a referral letter to the Wellington Regional Hospital, and I met with my medical team.
Diagnosis was a scary time for me. Because it was growing inside me and had already started spreading to lymph nodes, I kept thinking what could have happened if I didn't check myself that night?
I didn't tell anyone - except my partner - until I started chemo. Looking back, I kept thinking I'd get a call that they given me the wrong results, and I was fine. I was in denial, I think.
Treatment was gruelling. Unfortunately, I got about 8 out of 10 side effects during chemo. I remember the oncologist saying before I started, “chemo and cancer can do funny things to your body, and we never know what you're going to get from it'” In early March 2023, I began feeling a bit breathless and a bit off. I was diagnosed with pulmonary emboli on both sides of my lungs, including a saddle pulmonary embolism measuring 32mm. A blood clot had travelled from my right calf to sit over my heart and right-side lung.
This complication means I now have cardiac issues and see a specialist every 3-months. I will continue to take Rivaroxaban – a blood thinner - and meds for pulmonary hypertension, for life. It was a challenging year of treatment.
I’m so thankful my future is great again! It's a lot to go through and there are lasting reminders and side effects I live with. But it all seems trivial as I am cancer free. I have a 3-monthly check-up with medical oncology, radiation oncology and a 6-monthly check-up with breast surgeon. I am also seeing cardiology every 3-months and having a mammogram every 6-months.
I want women (and men!) to know that cancer cells can pop up from one day to the next, if you don't feel your breasts and know what they usually feel like, how will you know if something changes inside? From my experience, these things can mutate and grow and spread so quickly. It’s better to know what's going on and be empowered to do something about it, than rely on a 2-yearly mammogram to find something wrong.