Redefining Intimacy

How an unexpected diagnosis forced one woman to completely transform her relationship

- Anna Sullivan

In October 2017, I felt a small, hard mass sitting above my right breast. At first, I assumed it was a clogged milk duct from breastfeeding my 18-month-old son, Freddie. I tried hot showers and cold packs, but it didn't go away. While I wasn't overly concerned, I made a mental note to call my doctor. Just in case.

A few weeks later, on Halloween, I met with my primary care physician to review the results of my mammogram and biopsy. "You have breast cancer," she informed me. "But the good news is you caught it early and it's treatable." I sat on the exam table in disbelief as she explained my options.

After the appointment, I sat in my car and cried. Then I called my husband, Alex. "Just come home," he said softly. "We'll figure it out." My breast cancer diagnosis ended up being early onset and estrogen receptor-positive (ER+), meaning I wouldn't need chemotherapy. After many discussions with my oncologist and with women I met through a survivor network, I chose to have a unilateral mastectomy with reconstruction surgery, rather than a lumpectomy with radiation treatment. Less than six weeks after my diagnosis, I said goodbye to the body I'd known-and the breasts that had nursed both my children.

My surgery was successful, and after I healed, my oncologist prescribed an adjuvant regimen that consisted of a 10-year targeted hormone therapy to lower my risk for recurrence. He informed me that these treatments would push me into early menopause. At the time, the idea of menopause seemed abstract. I didn't know what it meant or what to expect.

I was just happy my cancer was treatable and that I'd be alive to take my kids trick-or-treating the following year.

In February 2018, I began my treatment plan. I was prescribed a daily oral medication, letrozole, to kill the estrogen in my body, and every three months, I went to the cancer center for a Lupron injection, which shut down my ovaries.