About Kill Karla

I am the poster child for annual exams for women.  Here I am on the table with my gynecologist whom I’ve known for years, my right arm is above my head and he’s doing the breast examination thing with me.  I’m chatting with him as if everything is OK when he zones out to a point where he’s not listening to me, and just says “hmm.”  At that point I knew something was wrong.  A whirlwind 48 hours of emergency ultrasound, digital mammogram and needle core biopsies later I find out that I have infiltrating ductal carcinoma at 31.

I guess I should explain Karla.  I realize now after my journey started in January ‘08 that several people who still care for me also still know Karla.  The God’s honest truth is I hated her in High School.  My High School sweetheart cheated on me several times but it never hurt as much as when he cheated on me with Karla.  When I got my diagnosis a good friend of mine suggested I personalize the tumor.  I was having a hard time identifying with my body which I love so much but not so much the tumor.  So I named the tumor Karla – the only person I can truly say I ever hated.  She might be Mother Teresa now but I sure as hell wanted to kick her ass then, which is what I’m going to do now with Karla the Tumor.