By the time the medical system finally moved, the luxury of choice had been violently stripped away from me.
The cancer had advanced, not because it was inherently untreatable from the start, but because it was given more than 16 months to grow unchecked in the dark.
Because of that delay, the interventions had to be severe. My breast and lymph nodes had to be removed, and I had to undergo radiation and hormonal therapy—drastic, body-altering measures for a reality that could have been avoided.
Now, I am left with the permanent, daily physical reminder of their 16-month silence: lymphedema, a seven-year seroma, frozen shoulder, fatigue, chronic insomnia, and chronic pain.