A Recap

Many of you coming to the blog have already heard about the beginnings of our journey into the realm of breast cancer, but for those who are just learning about this, here's a recap:

On March 17th, while at home, I noticed a lump in my left breast. The next morning I called my family doctor, and on the following Tuesday we began a whirlwind of appointments. The next day we were at the radiologist for mammograms and ultrasounds. We were thankful that the family doctor ordered the tests in such a way that the radiologist would look at the results immediately and speak with us while we were there. After the exam, the doctor informed us that he was concerned about what he saw, and that the next step would be a biopsy, which he performed right away. This lead us to a referral to a breast surgeon on Friday morning, where we learned that I did indeed have breast cancer.

We spent a half hour or more talking with Dr. Nate about potential treatment options; at this point they were only potential because more testing needed to be done to help him better understand the nature of the cancer, and, therefore, know how best to treat it. Those moments felt like drinking from a fire hose, to say the least, but Dr. Nate and his staff were incredibly gracious and did a fantastic job of explaining everything to us. During this appointment we also met Betsy, my Navigator, who will be following us through this journey as well. Betsy is a RN who will attend all of my major appointments, be available to answer questions both big and small, and will be an advocate on my behalf. I had no idea that we would have someone like this involved in our journey, but already I am so thankful for her knowledge and her words that helped to set our minds and hearts at ease.

Some of the additional testing involved a MRI. The doctors believed the cancer was contained to the one spot, and based on the initial ultrasound they did not think the lymph nodes were involved. However, they wanted to make sure that nothing was hiding, and a MRI provides even better results than a mammogram or ultrasound can. The doctor also asked me to have some genetic testing done for a couple reasons:
First, I am YOUNG! I'm telling ya, one of the many bright spots in this journey is gonna be that they keep calling me young! Who knew 41 was young! But technically, anyone with breast cancer under the age of 50 is considered "young". Either way, I'll take it!

Second, I have a significant family history of breast cancer on my dad's side of the family. For those of you who might of heard that you are more likely to get cancer if there's a history of it on your mom's side of the family - that's NOT true. Research now indicates that any family history has the potential to place you at higher risk.

Last week we received the results of the MRI. There was a suspicious spot in my lymph nodes, and further testing revealed that there is a single cancerous lymph node. This news caused the doctors to refer me on to oncology to discuss the possibility of chemotherapy. Last Wednesday after a 2 hour conversation with my wonderful oncologist, it was decided that based on the factors specific to my cancer and my young age, chemotherapy is something that needs to be a part of my treatment plan.

We were pretty overwhelmed, to say the least, at the change in events in just a few short days. We went from waiting for a couple weeks for genetics results, followed by surgery, to a new flurry of doctors' appointments and tests that lead to a plan for chemotherapy. But despite the quick change in plans, Mike and I have a lot of peace that this is the right and best way to go in order to get this cancer gone!

We have been so thankful for how quickly the doctors and everyone involved have worked to get us to this place. The plans for chemo are no different - I start tomorrow! I head into the hospital at 5:30 am for surgery at 6:30 to place the port that they will use for all of my chemo treatments. As soon as I'm awake from surgery, I will take a short ride over to the Cancer Center and begin my first treatment.

My first round of chemo will be four sessions every two weeks. After the first round, I will have a short break and then begin a second round of four sessions. Once the eight treatments are over, I will take a break for four to six weeks and then have surgery. So if all goes according to plan, it will be a summer of chemo, and we'll kick off the start of the school year with school and surgery! It's easy to be disappointed that this will all take place over the summer, but we are thankful that for this wacky homeschooling family, summer is our quietest time of the year. We are hopeful that I will feel well enough on our "off" weeks to take a few weekend trips closer to home and enjoy some of the lazy summer days.

Through all of this journey, we have been so fortunate to lean on our faith in God. We really have experienced His peace that passes understanding again and again. We know that the path ahead is full of unknowns, but we are resting in what we do know - that we serve a God who loves us, who is faithful to provide all that we need, and who has plans to take all of this craziness and work it for the good. As crazy as it sounds, we look forward to seeing how God works in us and through us in the days and weeks to come.

For now, we thank you so much for following us on this journey. Your kindness, your prayers, and your friendship really do mean so much to us.

With much love,

Stephanie and the gang