Meet Katie, January’s SMOV Survivor

I was recently diagnosed with DCIS at the beginning of September. I found a lump in my right breast in July, 4 days after my 7-year wedding anniversary. My husband and I were actively trying to conceive and had planned a trip to Hawaii over Labor Day weekend specifically to start our pregnancy journey. Leading up to the trip, I had been going to the OBGYN for testing, including biopsies, ultrasounds, and mammograms. I am only 32 so I am considered young, and under the age to get regular mammograms. When my husband and I’s flight landed in Hawaii on 9/1, I turned on my phone and got a notification from my doctor that my pathology report came back, and I had breast cancer. I have been to countless doctor’s appointments since coming back from my trip. I will be having a double mastectomy on 10/31. My life is upside down for many reasons, one of the biggest being that I had been planning on being pregnant right now. Instead, I have Breast Cancer and I am losing my breasts on 10/31 for the rest of my life. How does this happen to anyone at 31 years old who has led a healthy life? My doctors have told me that this will be something I will think about every day, as long as I live. My doctors have also said I’m lucky because I caught it early enough to have hope but you never know and sometimes I feel hopeless. My journey has been stressful but I look forward to 10/31 and taking the next step to recovery. Having a trip like this to look forward to would be wonderful as I was already burnt out before Hawaii and have been experiencing intense stress ever since.

Sponsor: Grand Pacific Resorts

• December’s SMOV Survivor
• November’s SMOV Survivor
• October’s SMOV Survivor