Things I wish I knew before I found a lump in my breast

When Ann Marie O'Sullivan was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, she didn't know what to expect. It's left a legacy, she writes, but it's not all of her.

Writer Ann Marie O' Sullivan convinced herself she didn't have cancer. But, she did. 

Being diagnosed with cancer thrust me onto an unfamiliar stage. I was told to play a part I didn’t understand. I thought I knew the gist of how the play might go. But it turned out, I knew nothing.

When I found a lump in my armpit I was sure it wasn’t cancer. It was sore and of all the things I thought I knew about cancer, it was that cancerous lumps were never painful. I told myself it would pass and played with it between my fingers, curious but not alarmed.