This is an ABC podcast.

I had just come back from a trip to America supporting a friend who was having top surgery.

They were transitioning. And I'd found this lump before we left. And I showed a friend and she said, oh no, that's way too big.

There's no way that's cancer.

So I went on my trip and came back and decided to have it checked out.

So I was sent off for an ultrasound that came back with some concerns.

So then a biopsy happened.

The radiologist who did the biopsy turned around to me

and said, don't worry, I've been doing this for a long time. I've seen lots of these, and that's not

cancer. This is Megan from the New South Wales far north coast, and it turns out her radiologist was wrong.

When it's breast cancer, so the results come back and, you know, the doctor gives you

the conversation, which is about I'm really sorry, we've got some bad news for you.

You know, I need to tell you you've got cancer, this is breast cancer.

And they explain the kind of cancer that it is. So at this point,

I was put in touch with a surgeon, a local surgeon, and the conversation began with her,

which was there are some decisions you need to make. And the first decision you need to make is

whether you'll have a lumpectomy, which is to remove the

tumour and some of the flesh around it to try and get a good clearance, or whether to have a

full mastectomy.

Megan was facing one of the biggest decisions of her life. If she chose to have a lumpectomy, just the removal of the lump,

she would need radiation afterwards. If she chose to have a mastectomy, the removal of the whole breast,

she might be able to avoid the grueling radiation therapy.

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