BUCYRUS—Monica Dyer is in the midst of the fight of her life, literally.

The oncology nurse knew something wasn’t right even though her mammogram results were fine.

“I have always gone for my routine mammograms,” said Dyer, a wife, mom, and grandmother who lives in Bucyrus.

She has been undergoing her routine mammograms since she was 40 years-old with a baseline that had been done at age 35. When she had felt something during her self-checks, she was told it was because she has dense breast tissue.

In June of 2019, she had another routine “benign” mammogram.

“Late last summer, I noticed a change in my left breast. I checked it daily, trying to decide if it was really a lump or if I was just being paranoid,” said Dyer.

Eventually, she enlisted the help of her friend, Amy, who is also a nurse, to feel the area to see if she could feel it too.

“She could feel it, so I knew it was real. She described it as being like a chew up piece of bubble gum so it was different than a lump,” said Dyer.

On Oct. 3, 2019, Dyer underwent a diagnostic 3-D mammogram, along with an ultrasound, on her left breast. Both test results came back as benign.

“I was told that I had dense, fibrocystic breast, the area was likely a cyst and that there was “no way she could feel it.” Looking back, she wishes she would have pushed for further testing at that time.

“This is the standard of care to check for breast cancer so I kept telling myself I was fine even though deep down, I knew I wasn’t,” she said.

Dyer became obsessed with that area of her breast, checking it every day, sometimes several times a day.

“I did self-breast exams every single time I took a shower, I always have. I cannot stress enough to others of the importance of knowing your body,” said Dyer.

By April of this year, Dyer had felt for months that the area of her breast in question was changing. One day, she changed things up and did her self-exam in front of a mirror instead of the shower.

“I lifted my arms above my head and there was dimpling on the bottom of my breast. I had not been able to see the dimpling when my arms were down,” said Dyer.

She knew at this point that something was very wrong because dimpling is a sign of breast cancer. She knew she needed more tests conducted but everything was shut down.

“We are in the middle of a pandemic – and I can’t do anything. Everything was shut down at that time,” said Dyer.

Finally, on June 1, Dyer was able to meet with her doctor.

“She did a breast exam and said I had very “lumpy” breast due to the dense and fibrocystic tissue,” said Dyer.

Fortunately, Dyer’s doctor could feel the area of her concern and could see the dimpling. She sent Dyer for further testing and on June 9, Dyer underwent another 3-D mammogram and as well as an ultrasound.

Dyer was hoping she had been wrong, that the doctor and radiologist’s report would tell her it was benign and that she could stop obsessing about it, but that was not the case.

“Unfortunately, I was told that the area I had been worried about since last October and told it had been nothing to worry about, was now something and I needed a biopsy,” Dyer said with dismay.

The biopsy was done on June 11 and things began to move quickly.

“On June 16, I was diagnosed with invasive lobular carcinoma of the left breast and the tumor was approximately 2.2 centimeters in size,” she said.

After an MRI was conducted of both of her breasts on June 19, the spot that could not be seen on the previous mammograms and ultrasound in June or October of 2019 was very real and now measuring 5.3 centimeters.

“That is over twice the size that they could see with regular imaging and they also found a suspicious spot on my other breast which turned out to be benign,” said Dyer, of the tumor that was now the size of a lime.

Dyer said she opted to undergo a bilateral mastectomy and begin the reconstruction process of her breasts on July 7.

“This type of cancer tends to mirror itself, meaning there was a high chance that eventually I would have cancer in my other breast so I chose to have both removed,” said Dyer, who had genetic testing completed at OhioHealth in Marion where she works as an Oncology Nurse Navigator and provides support, coordinates care and eliminate barriers to care for oncology patients. It is also where her doctors are located.

Because there was positive lymph node involvement, Dyer has to have chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

“Initially, they felt that surgery would be all I needed as well as a hormone blocker for the next five to 10 years since my cancer is 100 percent hormone fed,” she said.

Her reconstruction will not be complete until after she is finished with her chemotherapy and radiation treatments and her body has time to heal.

“So, at least not until next fall and after at least one more surgery,” said Dyer.

A port for her chemotherapy treatment was placed in her body on July 20 and on Aug. 13, she began her 20 weeks of chemo before she will begin radiation treatments.

Dyer is speaking out, as a nurse of 15 years and even more so from her personal experience, that this type of cancer is not seen on routine imaging until it has grown large enough to be seen.

“An MRI is the only diagnostic tool that can accurately show lobular breast cancer. When I had my mastectomy – the tumor measured 5.5 cm and the MRI had shown 5.3 cm. That is how accurate the MRI is,” said Dyer.

She said that lobular breast cancer lacks E-cadherin which binds cells together to form a tumor.

“Therefore, lobular cancer grows more like a spider web instead of a solid tumor. It appears white instead of black on imaging as does your regular breast tissue. Other lumps show up as a dark area but not this type of cancer. This makes it harder to see on imaging, especially if you have dense breast,” said Dyer. “My cancer was there in June and October of 2019 and likely for years prior to that. My dense breast tissue hid it.”

Dyer said that if women feel like something is not right with their bodies, to push the medical professionals harder for further testing.

“Had I gotten an MRI in 2019, I likely would not have needed chemo and radiation. There is no way to know for sure but it is definitely a possibility,” said Dyer.

She said that since her diagnosis, she has had so many women tell her that they do not do regular self-breast exams.

“Please, please, do them. Do a check not only in the shower but in front of a mirror,” said Dyer, who is hopeful for the future.

Benefit to be Held

Dyer’s friends and family have rallied around her through this whole ordeal and on Saturday, Nov, 7, at 2:30 p.m. at the VFW Post 1078, 1078 E. Mansfield St., in Bucyrus, there will have a pub crawl.

According to Dyer’s friend and one of the event organizers, Lori Charlton, the cost for the event is $10 per person, there is a sign-up sheet at the post and the fee is due at the time people sign-up.

This event is open to the public but no children are permitted to attend.

“All of the money raised from the Pub Crawl will be given to our very dear friend and auxiliary member Monica Dyer. Monica has been diagnosed with invasive lobular breast cancer and is going through chemo treatments at this time. Monica will also have to go through radiation,” said Charlton in a Facebook post. “This is going to be a really fun event.”

She said the Pub Crawl will begin at the VFW and participants will be going to the American Legion, Moose, AmVets, the Elks and back to the VFW at 6 p.m. to eat.

“We are having a chili cook-off and the chili will be judged at 6 p.m. We are encouraging anyone that knows Jason and Monica to sign up for this event. We are also encouraging crock pots of chili to be donated for judging and we can use that for our dinner when we return to the Post. You can contact me with any questions if you’d like to register or make chili,” said Charlton who can be reached at 419-689-1003.

The winner of the best chili contest will receive a prize that is to be determined and Covid-19 protocol will be followed.