I Suffered Through An Excruciating Medical Procedure. I Was Furious When I Discovered The Truth About It.

I like to tease my friend Aimee about her oddly formal emails, so I clicked her name in my inbox with anticipation. This time, she wrote: “I hope spring break treated you and your family well! It seems that I have been diagnosed with breast cancer, too. If possible, I would love to chat with you in the coming week.” 

I called her right away, phone to my ear as I jogged down to the elementary school to pick up my son. I had just been through three surgeries, including the removal of my breasts, my uterus, my ovaries, and my dignity. I felt scraped and gutted, still confused by this new reality. At that time, I was a year into my journey, finally gaining some distance and wisdom. 

Aimee, only 38 years old, told me she had discovered the lump while nursing her newborn infant. As she talked, I stood apart from the other parents, on the phone calculating how we could arrange her meal train and her doctors. I waved to my son.

“I guess they are in the process of scheduling my SLNB, whatever that is?” she said, and my arm dropped. I felt slick with sweat. 

She would have to go through the SLNB nipple injections. 

I didn’t know what to say. Should I tell her?  Or was it better not to know?

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SLNB stands for sentinel lymph node biopsy, and it’s part of the “staging” process to determine if cancer has moved beyond the breast. 

My breast surgeon is an older man, kind and experienced, and he was excited to tell me about the procedure. He is proud to offer this minimally invasive option, because in the past, surgeons removed all the lymph nodes as a precautionary measure, which left many women with severe disabilities. Instead, an SLNB offers the possibility to remove only 1-3 nodes to examine.