I had an unusual dream last night I thought I'd share with you. I dreamt I had been taken to court before a judge and jury. Well, actually, my breast cancer was taken to court.

The judge declared that my breast was being charged with illegally harboring breast cancer inside it. This was not only unlawful but was also a federal offense to my body. The jury was then given details about the "extent of the offense."

They reviewed my biopsy and the subsequent pathology report from my mastectomy surgery. The seriousness of the offense was determined by the prognostic factors: tumor size, stage, hormone receptors, HER2neu receptors, and grade of the cancer cells. My "sentence" was my actual treatment plan (based on evidence-based medicine, of course).

I was then packed off to jail and housed in a special ward for "breast cancer offenders," where I served my sentence (i.e., treatment). Most of the women there were doing six to nine months, which is, of course, the length of most treatment plans from surgery to chemo to radiation. Other unfortunates were on death row with stage 4 metastatic disease. 

Reflecting on this dream the next morning, I realized it had probably been triggered by a discussion I had with a newly diagnosed patient the day before. She had said to me, "I feel like I'm being punished for something but I don't know what I did wrong to get this breast cancer."

The chances that a woman purposefully did something to trigger or promote her disease are slim. We need to encourage newly diagnosed patients to look at their situation differently. Call it bad luck or fate. Gee, some even call it an opportunity - for example, you might get a free tummy tuck as part of the breast cancer reconstruction process. Or you can emerge from treatment with a new vision of how you'd like to spend the rest of your life.

Have you had dreams related to your breast cancer diagnosis or treatment? Tell us about them.