After breast cancer scare, young mom urges others to get checked
MIAMI — A young mother who faced the scare of her life is now talking about it.
She was doing a breast self exam when she felt a lump.
CBS4's Teri Hornstein spoke to the mom who says every woman needs to check—and get checked.
"I'm a single mom and what's going to happen. It was terrifying. What's going to happen to my daughter in case anything happens to me."
Karla Castells says she was doing a breast self-exam last year when something didn't feel right.
Karla, in her 30s, healthy and working at Kendall Hospital says she saw sick patients all the time but never thought it would be her.
"You see cases like this on a daily basis and you know it's never going to happen to me and you know—unfortunately it did happen to me."
Terrified-- the young mother went to the doctor.
Test after test, Karla saw several different doctors. And then the waiting began.
"It was excruciating because I did have to wait a year. They wanted to make sure it didn't grow."
But then it did grow.
Karla says the cell cluster grew to the size of a golf ball. That's when doctors said it was time to take it out and test her for cancer.
"I had a million thoughts running in my head and my first thought was my daughter."
To Karla's relief, the mass was removed and tested.
It came back benign but that waiting was a very scary time for her and all women who go through this process.
Despite the good news, Karla says it's just another example of how important it is to get checked out, to see a doctor if anything feels off.
"It was a very big surprise that it happened to me so young."
Doctors recommend doing a self-exam once a month.
CBS4 News Reporter Teresa Hornstein contributed to this report.
