Читать книгу A Lighter Side to Cancer: From Wake-up Call to Radiant Wellness - Sandra Miniere - Страница 6

(Weeks Before the Diagnosis)

At the time I found the two lumps in my left breast, I had to spring into action and find a local gynecologist sooner rather than later. Before moving to California, I had taken care of all my medical business, including the mammogram, which showed nothing. Without anyone to ask for a recommendation, I had to rely on myself. I wanted someone who did not perform obstetrics and worked primarily with menopausal women, similar to the doctor I left in New Jersey. After checking the yellow pages of the phone book, I called the office of the doctor who fit that description and decided this two-doctor office was the place for me.

When I met my doctor, I felt an immediate connection with her. After all, she had gone to medical school in New York. She tried to put a long needle into one of the lumps to discover whether it was a cyst. The procedure was not successful. I had to find a surgeon to perform a biopsy, and she suggested two doctors in Freemont. I was not happy with those options because they were general surgeons, not breast surgeons. And, they were men.

After all of my reading and discussions with breast cancer survivors who were in the know, from my perspective, I wanted a woman surgeon who only worked on breasts. If I had been in New Jersey, I would have gone to a local female breast surgeon who had an impeccable reputation. I knew they existed, and I would find one. I went against the gynecologist’s recommendation, and searched for someone who fit my criteria. I made some phone calls to get the search started. How I found Dr. Lebovic grabbed my attention.

I had been speaking to a good friend in New Jersey, who had lived in San Francisco with her husband for one year when he was on a sabbatical there. He taught clinical psychology at Rutgers University. She made a call to a doctor she had met in San Francisco, and he gave her Dr. Lebovic’s name for me. As soon as I met her, I knew she was the doctor I needed. She had a positive outlook, and I learned that she was skilled at making sure women looked good after breast cancer surgery. After all, I was in the Stanford University area of California, and she was the best of the best. I felt so blessed and thankful to have found her. Once I put my body in her hands, my cancer burden began to feel lighter. Once again, grace was smiling on me.