August 9, 2006, was the absolute best day of my life! My first child, Joshua, was born and I couldn't have been happier. They say that you don't know true love until you have a child of your own. You think you are prepared, but really you're not. It just comes over you like a wave of emotion, and it truly changes who you are. I knew that my life would change after having a child but I never expected to change as a person. I honestly don't remember who I was before Joshua came into my life. And now that he is here, I know why he came into my life. I have always believed that everything happens for a reason; sometimes we know the reason and other times we do not.   

About a month or so before Joshua was born, I was on the August 2006 Expecting Moms message board and I came across a post that piqued my interest. A woman posted a message referencing Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC). I had never heard of IBC so I followed the link to a news video. It is a rare form of breast cancer that is very aggressive. The physical symptoms of inflammatory breast cancer are that one breast becomes larger than the other, often suddenly; warmth and swelling of the breast; redness or pinkness that may look like an infection; itching or pain in the breast that won't go away; dimpling of the skin, which may look like the skin of an orange; nipple discharge; nipple retraction or flattening; or the appearance of a bruise on the breast that does not go away.

I was changing my clothes one morning a couple of weeks before Joshua was born and I noticed that my left breast was bright red. My left breast had been getting larger than the right throughout my pregnancy but I assumed it was due to all the hormonal changes. Even after seeing the redness, I more than likely would not have noticed a problem if I had not read the post about IBC. I brought it to my obstetrician's attention at my next appointment and that is where my life as a cancer patient began.

I had a mammogram on Thursday, August 17, 2006 to see the mass better and then an ultrasound-guided biopsy the next day. The whole time I had in my mind that the tumor was benign. No one person had mentioned the possibility of cancer... that is, until I went for the biopsy. I was talking to the radiologist before the biopsy and I asked her what the chances were that the tumor was cancerous. She looked at me and said, "I have to be honest with you. The chances are very great that it is malignant."

I felt like I had just been sucker punched in the gut. I immediately tried to get in touch with my husband, Chad, who had taken Joshua somewhere in the hospital to change and feed him. But Chad's cell phone did not work in the hospital. Then I tried to call my mom but only got her voicemail. When I finally got in touch with my best friend, Barb, I was sobbing uncontrollably. I asked her to keep trying to call Chad and my mom. I wanted so desperately to see Chad and Joshua but the doctor had to start the biopsy, so it was another hour until I saw my family. Chad, who had been told the news during my biopsy, came into the room with Joshua when it was done, and we spoke to the radiologist. My parents were already on their way. After speaking to Barb, they had immediately started the four-hour drive to see me.