A warning from one young mama battling what she thought was a simple clogged milk duct, turn into her worst nightmare: cancer. She is active to help prevent other mamas from this fight.

Twelve months ago, I gave birth to my second daughter, and immediately after she was born I knew something was wrong with my right boob. I asked for a hospital breast pump, thinking I could be proactive with the clogged milk duct, but no one seemed to want to listen to me. They all told me I was fine and to keep nursing. Annoyed, I continued.

But of course, my mama intuition was correct, I had a majorly clogged duct. After two weeks of pumping and feeding that milk to my newborn via syringe, we finally thought we figured it out. As the year went by, my newborn baby much preferred the left side. I didn’t think much of it, since a lot of nursing moms have a “slacker” boob, I blamed it on that.

Over time my nipple started to cave in and become inverted, and I discovered a lump, which in my mind was most certainly a cluster of clogged milk ducts, especially since that boob was only producing about one ounce of milk per day. NO reason to worry, because I was breastfeeding, I was 32 years old, I ate healthy, I was active…nothing else could possibly be wrong with me. Or so I thought.

clogged milk duct or cancer

Then on the night before Easter of 2017, I was sitting on my mom’s bed watching Passion of the Christ and stuffing eggs for my littles. I noticed something funky going on with my “slacker” boob. I started to inspect and noticed a red sore developing between my caved in nipple and the skin around it. Liquid seemed to be seeping in and getting stuck and causing an irritation. It just seemed off. So, I texted my OB (yep we are close like that) and started asking questions, even sent pictures. She immediately thought it had to be mastitis, but I wasn’t experiencing any of those symptoms… no fever, no chills, no achiness like the flu. She wanted to prescribe an antibiotic just in case, but me (the no medicine woman) didn’t want to take any drugs if I didn’t need to. She scheduled an appointment for me to come get things checked out.

At my appointment, a midwife checked me over and definitely found the lump, she said she wanted me to go to get an ultrasound just to make sure there was nothing funky in there. I get home and literally put the ultrasound order under a box and forgot about it, kept putting it off thinking it was going to cost another $50 co-pay when nothing was wrong.

SO DUMB y’all.

A few weeks later I noticed swelling and slight tenderness in my right armpit. That raised a red flag, and I called to schedule my ultrasound right away.

On May 18, 2017, I went to get my ultrasound done and immediately after the radiologist said, “It doesn’t look kosher.” And she ordered a mammogram to be done right away. We took pictures, then more pictures, then magnified pictures. Finally, I met with the breast specialist and she told me I would need to get a biopsy done. She said something about micro-calcifications and a large mass in my right breast. All of my scans were sent over to my OB.

I went to lunch with my mom and little girls thinking it was a nice day to be off work. Half way through my lunch my OB called me, she said it did not look good. That she was pretty certain it was malignant and I needed to act right away. The next few weeks were a whirlwind blur, that was a Thursday and by Monday morning I was walking into a breast surgeon’s office to get a biopsy done.

That Wednesday afternoon I walked out of the same office after being told I had Invasive Ductal Carcinmoa Stage 2 or 3 with a 5-cm tumor in my breast. That day we also did a biopsy on my lymphnode in my right arm pit. That Friday, I found out the cancer had spread to my lympnodes and I was officially Stage 3. We also found out I was estrogen + and progesterone + and HER2 – (which basically means my cancer is being fueled by estrogen) …and weirdly enough is a “good” thing in the cancer world because that means they can cut off my estrogen, which will kill off the cancer and keep it from coming back.

That was a grim morning, but we jumped and got all my big scans done…bone scan, CT scan, and by Friday afternoon we were told the cancer had not spread anywhere else, PRAISE JESUS. I needed that good news. Positive, happy-go-lucky people like me can only be pushed so far into darkness when we start jumping for the light switch.

Exactly two weeks after being diagnosed with breast cancer, I had a port placed in my chest. Today, I am sitting in my infusion chair about to receive my first round of chemotherapy.

I have two little girls, I am 32 years old, I have an extraordinary life to live. Aside from being strong for my girls, I want to be a strong advocate for young women, specifically nursing moms about how easily breast cancer can sneak up on you. It is a silent monster that no one is safe from.

Please do not take self-breast exams lightly, do them and do them often. If you don’t know how to perform one properly, ask your OB/GYN to show you. I also want you to take a good look at this graphic I have included, there are certain symptoms that women miss when it comes to cancer. I missed a few.

Clogged milk duct or cancer

Please do not think that you are safe if you are young. Please do not think you are safe if you are pregnant, or nursing either. Everyone is at risk, and you need to be informed and smart. One day there will be a better option than chemotherapy, one day there will be a cure. And all will rise in pink and celebrate.

“I am too positive to be doubtful, too optimistic to be fearful, and too determined to be defeated.”

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Lauren Wiatrek
Lauren Wiatrek is a native Austinite that after moving to New York and Colorado, decided her heart was in the center of Texas. Her husband, Evan helped build their family of daughters in a home they love. After battling stage 3 breast cancer in 2017 Lauren has become a strong voice for wellness, health advocacy, and her faith. Lauren loves to travel every chance she can get. Lauren enjoys extra hot coffee on the porch, her F45 workouts, Young Living lifestyle, being all things as a #girlmom and helping empower women. Lauren started her journey with cancer on her blog www.bestillandsmile.com you can also follow her on her Instagram: @lauren.wiatrek for motherhood tips and her wellness journey after cancer.

5 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you for sharing this. I, like so many others, tend to brush things off, because my justification is always, something like this would never happen to me. Happy you got it checked out and hopefully the intervention will keep it from manifesting. Yesterday, my husbands family received grave news of a very dear and close family friend losing her battle with breast cancer. My heart goes out to all those effected by BC. Being a mom myself of 3 girls, I don’t even know how I would react or do. But reading this blog post has urged me to call and schedule a mammogram. I breast fed all my babies and did experience masticitis with one of them. I have noticed some changes in the breast that I struggled with getting milk and like you, chalked it up to slacker boob. Now I am convinced that I should get these concerns checked out. I recently went in to have a transvaginal ultrasound due to cycst on the ovaries. Lots of little things are leading me to believe that something needs to be checked out. Thank you for sharing your story and well wishes with the chemo.

  2. Things like this are so important to get checked and be looked at more thoroughly. Thank you for sharing. There are so many women who think they will be fine or they don’t have the chance of anything like this happening to them, but it can truly happen to anyone. Stay strong and don’t forget you are so strong.

  3. How Lauren. I went to school with Evan. I just wanted to tell you this post was beautiful and that you are all in my prayers.

    Sarah Eggar

  4. Thank you for sharing your story Lauren! I know how overwhelming this diagnosis can be, especially with little ones. I know by now you have probably heard or read survivor stories and As you know everyone’s story is different but I wanted to give you a brief clip of my story in hopes that it can lift your spirits. I always loved hearing the good stories. I am a Stage 3 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Survivor. I have been cancer-free for 2 years now and after reading yours it seems our stories are very similar. I was 27 years old, nursing my 10 month old daughter when I noticed the lump. I was ER/ PR + and HER 2 -. My tumor was larger than 5cm so I was classified as stage 3. I completed treatment and I am now just going in for follow ups and taking medication to shut down my estrogen. I will keep you and your family in my prayers!! Stay positive!

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