Sports journalist Hannah Storm received an unexpected breast cancer diagnosis after a routine mammogram.
Although she had dense breasts requiring extra screening in the past without issues, the latest mammogram found abnormalities.
“They said, ‘We saw something and we’d like to biopsy it. It’s probably nothing. Not a big deal,’” Storm said.
She added, “I kind of wish they hadn’t said it’s not a big deal.”
A follow-up ultrasound and biopsy confirmed cancer.
“I knew something was up,” she said of receiving the follow-up phone call.
As someone without family history or symptoms, Storm was shocked by the diagnosis.
“I just heard ‘breast cancer’ and I was shocked,” Storm said. “I was so stunned. I’ve had yearly mammograms and there was never anything, I have no family history. I had no pain. I had no lumps. I literally had nothing that would’ve indicated that I had breast cancer.”
However, she praised her surgeon Dr. Elisa Port for early detection and reassurance, saying early detection from regular mammograms saved her life.
“Dr. Port called me immediately and her first words were, ‘You’re going to die of something. You are not going to die of this,’” Storm said. “She not only did my surgery, but guided me through the entire process.”
After a lumpectomy guided by Dr. Port, Storm’s surgery was successful.
Now in recovery and feeling grateful, she advocates the importance of prioritizing health screenings, as her own experience highlights how asymptomatic cancer can be found and treated early through regular mammograms.
“Every day when I wake up and I look in the mirror, my left breast doesn’t look exactly like my right one. There’s the scar there.”
“Literally when I look in the mirror, I have this profound sense of gratitude. It’s like a daily reminder of just how fortunate I am. I had no signs. If I hadn’t had a mammogram, I would not have known this was there and it could have been much more dangerous, much more serious, and potentially deadly,” she said.
“This is just to say how important it is to commit to your own health and get your lifesaving screening,” she said. “Breast cancer survival rates just keep climbing and early detection is a huge part of that so give yourself the best chance possible.”
Storm aims to raise awareness of breast cancer through sharing her story of an unexpected but potentially life-saving diagnosis.
“The more people who talk about breast cancer, the better. So I will beat that drum forever.”
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