"I was diagnosed with breast cancer last June at the age of 39. According to those breast-cancer-calculation charts, I had a less than one percent chance of developing breast cancer at this time in my life. But I did. In March, I noticed something different about my right breast. I wouldn't have called it a lump, exactly--more like a small mass about three inches below my clavicle. It was so small and unassuming, there were times I couldn't even quite find it when I went to look for it. I was already a month overdue for my yearly check-up, so at the urging of my mom, I made an appointment with my gynecologist. I didn't think my "mass" was anything to be alarmed about, but I figured it was better to be reassured sooner rather than later. Certainly, I wanted to put my mom at ease. My gynecologist couldn't even feel what I was talking about until I lifted my arm and arched my back in a certain way. When he finally did feel it, he said, "that feels cystic to me; I don't think it's anything to be alarmed about." But then, bless him, he added, "But you will be 40 next year, so let's sign you up for your first mammogram." The mammogram didn't detect anything unusual, but because I had felt a mass, the radiologist followed up with a sonogram (to the right breast only). And it was on the sonogram that what I was feeling showed up clear as day. The radiologist looked at it a long time before he said, "I have to be honest with you. I'm very worried about this." He could tell based on the shape and color that my small mass (nine millimeters) may very well be cancer. A biopsy later confirmed his suspicion, and two weeks ago, I met with my breast surgeon to plan a course of attack. When HE went to feel my mass, he was flabbergasted that I had found it. "It's so subtle," he said. Subtle cancer! The scariest kind! The surgeon removed the lump in June. He also removed some lymph nodes to see if the cancer had spread. I woke up to the nurses around me saying, "Good news, Jill. Your lymph nodes looked good!" It hadn't spread! It's nearly six months later, and I'm feeling fine. I finished up chemo in September and am a quarter way through radiation. I'll have herceptin treatments every three weeks until May, and will take Tamoxifin for five years. And after that, I'm hoping I'll be home free. Thanks for your good work and for getting such an important message out there. I'm sure you'll help save many lives."