BrittLee Bowman had a huge decision to make as she lined up at an elite cyclocross race. Cyclocross is a sport that throws obstacles at you, from sand pits to staircases to knee high barriers. And this one, alongside the Hudson River in Queens, N.Y. was no different.
Bowman pedaled. People cheered. And if you saw her that day... you probably had no idea what she was wrestling with. That decision she had to make: Do I have both my breasts removed?
It all started with a tiny lump. "Sometime in October I just you know was touching my boob and felt a lump," she says. "It was about the size of a pea."
She immediately called her mom, Sara Bowman. Her mom says she was probably more concerned than her daughter, but she didn't let on.
Bowman made an appointment with her doctor. And the doctor thought it was best to do an ultrasound. And the ultrasound showed another lump. Two total. And that led to a biopsy. And the biopsy led to waiting.
"I'm telling you," she says. "In my mind, I did not have cancer."
So Bowman went on with her life. She was out shopping when she got the call.
"You have breast cancer," she says the doctor told her. "And I was like, 'Wait. What!?'"
The doctor clarified her statement, telling Bowman the result came back positive. She had stage one multifocal invasive ductal carcinoma, ductal carcinoma in situ, and lobular carcinoma in situ all in her left breast. Her right was unaffected. She called her mom.
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