1. Plot Twist!

Blog readers may have noticed I haven’t been posting regularly in 2022. There’s a very good reason for that. I’ve been writing stuff – but they’re not here on the blog, because of the personal and sensitive nature of the topic. One year later I’m ready to put it out there, so here goes.

In January 2022, I arrived back in the Philippines after my “two-year expensive sabbatical from clinical medicine” – the Master of Culture, Health and Medicine degree from the Australian National University. It was time start anew and get back to doctoring: clinical work and seeing patients. It was also time to re-establish my own medical care in the Philippines, having been away since early 2020 – I left the country about a month before border restrictions happened over the world.

I saw my gynecologist to figure out what to do with this troublesome myoma (fibroid) in my uterus, causing prolonged and profuse menstrual period bleeding since at least 2018. It might have been present longer than that, but 2018 was the year I started having dysmenorrhea and heavier menstrual periods. I was due for the annual screening mammogram and breast ultrasound as well, so she wrote a prescription for those and off I went to the Breast Center. Except I hadn’t had any annual screening mammograms nor breast ultrasonography since 2019. While American recommendations say screening should start at 40 years of age, the Australian medical community recommends this for people 50 years old and above. Being under 50, I did not get any screening in 2020 and 2021 while I was studying in Australia. Of note, all previous imaging had been normal up to 2019.

Well. The mammogram and ultrasound done on February 21, 2022 showed otherwise. Suspicious for cancer. I saw the images and I knew why – on the ultrasound images, an irregularly-shaped dark spot punctuated the homogenous background. The mammogram had a suspicious mass as well, but it was not as clear – these dense breasts were making imaging difficult. Anyway, I consulted a breast surgeon, she did a biopsy on March 4, and invasive lobular cancer was confirmed a week later on March 11, 2022. Now I am not sure which of these dates is my “cancer-versary”. But the priority now shifted from building a career to concentrating on health concerns. Here we go!

My gynecologist and I now knew that the myoma (fibroid) had to take a backseat, and the breast cancer had to be addressed first. Thus started my year of stepping back from work and diving into the craziness of the healthcare system – not as a doctor specializing in rehabilitation medicine, but as a patient. 2022 was the year I got a crash course in cancer rehabilitation, among other things!

To recap: my healthcare journey started with a myoma in the uterus, and ended with the said myoma surgically removed. However, in between those two events, a huge detour happened – this breast cancer plot twist that included a bilateral mastectomy, chemotherapy and radiation. I survived 2022 and am grateful for everyone’s support and prayers – without which I know the crazy year would have been much crazier.