FABULOUS. When you walk this road, every day watching your children grow up is very special. Many of you get our Christmas letter and know a lot of the details. These past months have been very special.
Now to catch you up on what has happened….this blog is active again. That's not a good thing.
Timeline:
Late Oct / Early Nov 2013
I find a small lump out on my implant near the original site of my largest DCIS tumor. Knowing the chances of it being cancer are very small, I wait and go in 30 days later for my 2 year check up with Dr. H. who is my breast surgeon.
Dec 5 in fast forward:
8:30 Dr. H exams me. She thinks its a suture granuloma as its on the suture line. BUT she doesn't like it. Schedules an appointment for that very day in ultrasound.
1:30 Ultrasound. The radiologist comes in to talk with me about the scans. He can't confirm or deny what Dr. H thinks. BUT He doesn't like it either. He's surprised I found it as it only shows 5mm on the scan.
4:00 Back in Dr. H's office. She removes offending lump in a 30 minute procedure and sends it to pathology. We know the odds.
The next week.
Dr. H calls me, she's very direct! It's cancer, Invasive Ductal Carcinoma this time. More info to come later when the pathology report is complete. She needs to go back in for clean margins.
December 16
Here we go again! 45 minutes in OR. I get the high level summary of the pathology. ER, PR, HER2 positive. I can handle the first 2. The third one is a problem and I know it, but it's better than a triple negative and I know that too. Dr. H also orders a pet scan to determine if it has metastasized. A sentinel node biopsy was done 2 years ago and was clean. Because of the surgery I've had, another node biopsy isn't going to provide the info needed.
December 24
Yep, Christmas Eve and I get to spend about 2 hours in Nuclear Medicine and then an 11:30 appointment with Dr. H. Everyone has been so kind. They went over the top to have preliminary PET Scan results at 11:30. For those of you who know the medical profession, that is tops. I appreciate the level of compassion.
Good News: Pet Scan does not show distant metastasis at this time. There are a couple of issues to clear up, but those I can deal with.
Bad News: Two of the six surgical margins are not clear. Dr. H. needs to go back in and take a significant section of skin, muscle and tissue. She will also need to remove the implant and replace it with an expander which is smaller. We schedule everything for January 22.
Merry Christmas
We go to Grandparents and try to celebrate the Good News and leave the rest until later. Much time is spent reconnecting with knowledgeable individuals from natural medicine and medical perspectives. We so appreciate everyone's input. We are praying for the Lord to go before us and show us what we should do and what we should avoid. Every cancer has some unique features. Breast cancer takes several different forms and with each type there are many tumor markers that can affect treatment. Getting up to speed on this cancer, what feeds it, what creates a welcoming environment for it and what will kill it, is time consuming.
January 9
DH and I meet my "Oncology Dream Team". We were really trying to avoid this. :)
It's a tough day and we are mentally and physically exhausted by what we've heard and we have more questions than answers. It seems I'm an unusual case (IDC after mastectomy for DCIS) and many docs have only seen 1 or 2 cases or none at all.
January 15, 16
Second opinions in a bigger city. Good news, they have seen more cases. We are so grateful to all the docs and to their nurse navigator. Their perspective was helpful and enlightening. We have been praying…Lord, go before us, show us the way to take. We still have more questions than answers on the medical oncology and radiation oncology pieces. The surgical oncology piece is clear. Surgery is definitely on and I will go to Dr. H for that.
January 22
1 hour before I am to arrive, surgery is cancelled as the tissue expander needed didn't arrive on the plane due to bad weather. It's a rough day for me emotionally, thank you for all your prayers. We finally decided to come home and regroup as a family. We haven't been together for a week as I have been in Bigger City.
Surgery is rescheduled for January 24. I am to arrive at 9am.
Thanks for your prayers.
We are praying for you, and the family very often. We love you guys.
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