A month after Jo Buena underwent a double mastectomy to remove three small cancerous tumors in her breasts, she immediately felt “disconnected” from herself when she looked in the mirror.
The then 46-year-old was overcome with emotion. ‘What have I done to myself? I feel like Frankenstein,’ she asked herself.
The fit and healthy sales analyst from Melbourne was diagnosed with breast cancer on January 11, 2023.
Just a few weeks earlier, on Christmas, she felt a small but firm, pebble-like lump on her left breast while lying down and rushed to the doctor. It was her only symptom.
A mammogram and x-ray revealed that she had two malignant tumors in her left breast and a benign tumor in her right breast. She was scheduled for surgery a few days later.
“I could only feel one, just on the surface of my left breast. I didn’t know about the other two,” said Jo, now 47, adding that the doctor had suggested a double mastectomy.
I denied it [about the cancer] and had no time to panic. Preparing for the surgery and packing a bag was like going to a hair appointment, there was no time to think about it.
‘Before the surgery I felt like I was losing a part of myself – I knew I wouldn’t be the same after. Although I joked at first that the positive side is that I’ll have firm breasts for the rest of my life.’
When Jo Buena (pictured) lost her mother to stage three breast cancer, she was devastated – but she knew she didn’t want to suffer the same fate she had seen
The Melbourne-based sales analyst received the shocking news just after Christmas in December 2022
Jo says that, thinking back to the first time she noticed the lump, she “laid down in bed” and scratched her left side when she felt the lump.
“It was hard and firm, like a smooth pebble,” she said.
It is common for women to experience breast discomfort during their menstrual cycle due to fluctuating hormone levels. This can also lead to lumps in the breast tissue that feel tender, painful and swollen.
But Jo knew the lump wasn’t just fatty tissue because it ‘didn’t move’ and was ‘stuck’ to her breast.
The fact that she was 46 – the same age her mother was when she was diagnosed with breast cancer – was a coincidence Jo couldn’t ignore.
But despite the ordeal, she still considers herself “lucky” because the cancer was caught early and diagnosed as stage one, as the disease had not spread to her lymph nodes.
Recalling the first time she noticed the lump, Jo said she “lay down in bed” and scratched her left side when she felt it. “It was hard and firm – like a smooth pebble,” she said (pictured with her partner).
She added that there was no history of cancer or other illnesses in her family before her mother was diagnosed.
Then she was diagnosed, along with two aunts and three cousins, all around the same time.
“We were busy trying to find a surgeon who would examine me and luckily my sister, who was due to have a BRCA gene test, was able to arrange an appointment for me,” said Jo.
There was also a large ‘backlog’ of patients at the time who had to wait for a doctor’s appointment because of Covid.
“The day I was diagnosed, my surgeon said to me, ‘Okay Jo, we have a problem. This is cancer. This is how we’re going to deal with it,'” Jo said.
“But even before we had the results, she was thinking of all the different options, so I knew I was in good hands. She made it a fact that I wasn’t alone and that she would help me.”
Jo is sharing her story to mark Daffodil Day on Thursday 22nd August to raise awareness and encourage others to check their breasts regularly, especially those with a family history of cancer.
When the surgeon learned that her mother had died of the same form of cancer in 2004, he immediately recommended a double mastectomy to reduce the chance of the cancer returning in the future.
“I’m not really a spiritual person, but I knew before I went to my doctor and got the results, because I had a dream about my mother and she just said, ‘I’m sorry,'” Jo said.
Although no one likes to hear that they have cancer, the news didn’t hit her right away and she was overwhelmed with emotions while she was in the hospital.
Doctors injected a ‘radioactive dye’ to check that the lymph nodes were not full of cancer cells. At that point, Jo started to cry her eyes out.
A month later, when the bandage was removed, I was confronted with reality.
But she knew a double mastectomy was the “right decision,” even though the cancer was still early.
Jo said it was traumatic watching her mother go through cancer treatment when the cancer came back twice and she didn’t want to go through that again.
“I thought, if I’m going to do it, I’m just going to do it once and then it’s done,” she said.
In February, her ovaries also had to be removed because the form of breast cancer she had was hormone-sensitive and caused her to go into menopause prematurely.
This was part of her treatment plan to reduce the risk of the cancer returning.
“I don’t want to feel sorry for myself, I’m still lucky – I didn’t need chemotherapy or radiotherapy. So I’m not complaining,” she said.
Jo is sharing her story to mark Daffodil Day on Thursday 22nd August, to raise awareness and encourage others to check their breasts regularly, especially those with a family history of cancer.
“Checking your breasts should be a habit, like brushing your teeth. Plus, that way you know what it feels like and if anything feels wrong or changes,” Jo said.