SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - October is breast cancer awareness month. One South Florida woman hopes her story will be a wake up call to others.
Karla Castells, 35, is young and healthy.
As a radiology technologist at HCA Florida Kendall hospital, she sees lots of patients with masses coming to get checked out never thinking she’d be one of them.
But a routine self breast exam brought her worst fears to life.
“It’s totally different when you’re on the other side, because you do have to wait for the results, and you have to see what happens, what your fate is going to be,” Castells said. “I’m a single mom, and like what’s going to happen? And I was terrified what’s going to happen to my daughter in case anything happens to me. Frightening.”
Doctors had her wait a year and monitored the lump in case it grew.
“I just kept praying and hoping it didn’t grow, but unfortunately it did,” she said. “It had grown, so I had a million thoughts running in my head, and my first thought was my daughter.”
After a year of worrying about the worst case scenario, Castells had a biopsy done by Dr. Braulio Sabates.
Fortunately, the lump was benign.
Dr. Sabates and Castells said this story highlights the importance of breast cancer awareness month.
“The majority of these breast lesions, benign or cancerous, are picked up on normal breast exams,” Dr. Sabates said. “We also want women to be more aware of their own risk factors. They’re silent. It doesn’t show any warning signs. You just have to continue to check.”
Doctors recommend women do self breast exams once a month and let their doctor know if there’s anything out of the ordinary, and once you’re 35, it is recommended to start doing annual mammograms to be on the safe side.
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