Hi- I’m Pam and this is my story…. my breast cancer journey.  I have always had dense breasts- which I’ve always thought was kind of a weird way to put that my breast tissue is lumpy and bumpy.  When I think of dense, I honestly think of “not very smart”- and my original breasts were quite intelligent, thank you. Back to my story….  I started having mammograms and ultrasounds in my mid-thirties because of my “dense breast tissue.” I went on to have cysts aspirated- BENIGN-yay for me!  And later I had a fibroadenoma in my right breast- BENIGN a second time.  Then the year of 2012-2013 landed on my plate… In 2012-2013 we had our two sons in graduate school and our daughter in undergrad. In May of 2013:  our oldest son graduated from grad school on May 3, our daughter graduated from undergrad on May 5, our daughter got married on May 10, our middle son graduated from grad school on May 18, and we moved our daughter and new son-in-law to Virginia on May 30.  In May I also found a lump that seemed to sit “oh so close” to my fibroadenoma that was biopsied and “clipped.” I called my breast specialist/surgical oncologist and had an appointment the next day.  I would like to tell you that I was surprised, shocked even- but I was not.  Something in my spirit said, “something is wrong- terribly wrong.”  And unfortunately, it was.  After a needle-guided ultrasound biopsy and an MRI, I was diagnosed with” invasive lobular carcinoma of the right breast.”  Breast cancer. On July 3, 2013 I underwent a bilateral mastectomy with direct immediate reconstruction.  I am doing well.  My breast cancer was found early.  I did not need chemo and happily swallow (okay, maybe not happily) 20 mg of Tamoxifen every day.  And now the journey begins…