Just a Bump, Not the End of the Road

That is my new Mantra for fighting through this cancer. It was hard for me just now to type the "C" word...denial is a strange thing. I feel like I'm gonna wake up and find I was dreaming this, but I know that is not reality. SO, my alternative is to FIGHT! My Cousin, Sherri, has been through this, and is a survivor in remission. She is my exemplar. The first time I told her about my diagnosis, she said, "Mare, this is JUST A BUMP IN THE ROAD...NOT THE END OF THE ROAD."

That stuck in my head, and I thought it was a great title for my blog.

I also got a pink T-shirt from my "Sisters" that says, "Fight like a GIRL!" And that is what I will do.

For all of you who want to know what's happening, I will try my best to fill you in as I go. I am at the "gathering information" stage right now. I am relatively ignorant about this subject, so I have a lot of learning to do. I already alarmed a few people unnecessarily by misquoting my Dr. Sorry about that. I will also do my best to keep my facts straight.

I was diagnosed last week, on May 26th, 2011. On May 16th, I went in for a Mammogram because I got a notice from my clinic that I was overdue. So I wasn't expecting much at all. The following day, several messages were left on my home phone machine [which I check sporadically]. I didn't hear them until Friday. I was busy with Tacy's graduation party, so I made a mental note to call them on Monday. When I called, we set up an appointment for that Wednesday, May 25th [the same day as my knee Dr. appointment for my upcoming surgery]. The did another set of mammograms on the left side, and an ultra sound that lasted quite a while, and then they came in and said, "we need to do three biopsys...do you have time for that?"

OK, so now my head is spinning and I'm getting nervous...I said, "yes, of course". So they poked me with needles to numb me [the WORST part of the procedure], then they took the tissue samples. That was a piece of cake. The report came back at 10:30 the next day, and they called me immediately. When they told me it was cancer, they were very serious, and it scared the bejeebers out of me. They told me they set up an appointment with the same Dr. who did my gall bladder surgery [with whom I was not happy] That was when I called Sherri to ask her advice. She said, "Put on the brakes and don't let them make those kind of decisions for you." It is important to me to feel I trust the person into whose hands I am placing my life...I'm funny that way.

Today, June 2nd, I went to Sherri's Surgeon, Dr. Barbara Schmidt. I really felt comfortable with her and am happy she is my surgeon. I will have my surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul. The date for that has not been determined. I will have to have a mastectomy, because the cancer is spreading through the tissue and is also in my lymph gland(s). When she determines how many glands are affected, she will know whether I will need radiation as well as chemo. Because of the type I have, I will have to have the inter-venous type of chemo. It will be a long haul, but I will take it one day at a time.

Tomorrow morning, I am going into my knee surgeon and he is going to inject something into my knees that is made from rooster comb. It acts like cartilidge. It may give me some relief while I go through all this other business. I don't think my immune system can handle both surgical traumas at the same time.

At noon, I am going to have a PET Scan done, so Dr. S. can find out more before the surgery about what is happening in my lymph glands.

Will let you all know what's up as I go along.