As many, if not all of us know, October is the month for Breast cancer awareness. Breast cancer has touched my life, in the form of my mom. Although breast cancer is something I have always been aware of, I never really thought that something like this would touch me personally. We always think that this is the stuff that happens to other people and their families, not us. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in the United States and is the second leading cause of deaths caused by cancer in women. According to the American Cancer Society, 192,379 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed in 2009. Breast cancer will effect 1 out of every 8 women in their lifetimes. By clicking my title link above, you will be helping to raise money for mammograms for women in need! Early detection is critical and without this help a lot of women would be unable to afford the tests needed. So please take two seconds of your time and click to help breast cancer research
In May of 2008, my mom found a small lump in her right breast. She waited to have it checked out until my little sisters wedding because she didn't want anything to overshadow that day. The following excert is from a journal that I started shortly after she was diagnosed. Today, she is in remission and currently cancer free!
I started this last week.......so here go's
7-3-08 I took my momma to the biopsy this morning. The procedure only took about 30 min.... her doc told her that he would be Very, Very surprised if it doesn't come back as cancer/ He said that is what it looks like...and the fact that it has tripled in size since last Thursday. We get the pathology report on Monday...and she has an apt with a surgeon on Weds morning...to discuss options...because no matter what she'll have to have surgery to remove it,
6-28-08 We just got a copy of the mammogram report to take with us to the biopsy on Thursday. The report says there are 2 masses in her right breast, both about 15mm in size, and the report says 90% chance that it is malignant.
How do i soak this all in? I'm so scared and don't really know what to do. We haven't told the kids anything yet...but we should know a def answer by July 8.
We got the results of the biopsy on 7-8..she has invasive ductal carcinoma
7-09-08 We had the surgeon's apt today. the surgery is tentatively scheduled for next Thursday. She will be having a lumpectomy and a sentinal node biopsy at the same time. Right now Chemo is still up in the air...but she will have to under go 6 weeks of radiation...5 days a week. The chemo treatment depends on what these other tests come back to show us. She has to have a breast MRI before surgery to see if anything looks suspicious in her left breast...if so treatment options change. They will also do complete lab workup where they check her liver profile (or something like that) because the liver is one of the first places the doc said cancer will spread to.
We won't know what stage the cancer is at until our first post operative apt..after all the extra tests have been finished....
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
July 14 2008: Its hard to hold my head up and pretend to everyone that i am really handling things well. I keep saying I am ok and that she is goin to beat this...but the truth is Ireally dont know...Idont know if she is really going to be ok, Idont know how to explain to the kids, Idont know how long I can keep my job, i just dont know....sorry it seems like everytime I look up we get hit again. The mri she had came back showing several area's / masses in the same breast...they are now sayin chemo is def now. The chances of the cancer already spreading have increased greatly.....
7/22 Well I told the kids last night that mom has cancer...they seem to have taken it pretty well...Darrian already had an idea that it was going on...Taryn of course was clueless...she really doesnt get it I think...Darrian understands, had some questions and worries...but I think we will all be ok.
7/23 We finally got the results of the hormone tests on the cancer back....all horomone receptors came back neg.....meaning that she wont have to undergoe hormone therapy for the next 5 yrs....but chemo is a def....along with the radiation thereapy. This is called triple negative breast cancer.
August 2008: 1st chemo treatment begins on Thursday the 21st.
10/06 i know it has been awhile, things have been goin alright. We shaved mom's head after because her hair was coming out in clumps. J shaved his head as well, so know i have two wonderful bald heads to be so grateful for!
My mom, with Taryn in the background watching
My husband J, bald along with my momma!
We are starting our 3rd round of chemo this week, and so far everything has been really well, mom's red and white blood cell counts are higher than they ever have been!
November 2008: Mom and I went out to do a bit of shopping today for Taryn's birthday present. We wondered around Wal-mart and finally found this really cool kit for Taryn to make her own jewelry, we head to the checkout stand because mom is starting to get really tired we get to the checkout stand and low and behold the gift we picked out for Taryn has been recalled due to lead. So we leave Walmart empty handed and head to Joseppi's for lunch.
This is where things get really interesting. We get there and there is about a 10 minute wait to be seated.. so we sit on the window seat and mom says to me "i'm really not feeling well" and complains that she is hot. So we decide to head over to her doctors, since she was due there for a shot that day anyways. We pull out of the parking lot and I dont even get half a mile down the road and she passes out in the passenger seat of my van and has a seizure. I've never been so scared in my life! I called 911, and because I couldn't get mom to respond to me, they send an ambulance out for her.
I follow the amublance to the hospital and find out once we get there that her blood pressure was extremely low...low enough that she could have died. They can't find anything else wrong after all the tests that they run and so they chalk it up to chemotherapy.
December 2008: December was a good month! Her next to last round of Chemo was done and this is the month she started losing her eyelashes. We had a good Christmas and did some family portriats on Christmas Eve.. my sister did the pictures.
Krysti, Mi-Mi, Me, Aiden,
Bobby, Darrian, Angel (the dog), Taryn, Chris
January: Last round of chemo!!!! Radiation begins.
March 2009: First post cancer treatment checkup... everything looks great!
June 2009: Blood work and mammogram...so far so good
September 2009: still so far so good.
Krystal and mom at Frontier City
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