Three women--Kathy Clayton, Lynn Tester, and Cindy Holt--just drove to my house from Greensboro, cleaned said house, and filled its fridge with meals. THAT'S sacrificial love. They loved on me, made me sit, and prayed with me before leaving. My love cup is again overflowing.
We got the pathology report back yesterday from the surgery I had last week. The surgeon removed a 2.1 cm malignant tumor and surrounding tissue, and the "margin" was negative. He took a second suspicious tumor, and it was benign. Last, he took three sentinel lymph nodes, and they all came back negative. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Love that Percocet
Cancer is officially hijacking my blog, so check here for updates from now on.
On Thursday morning, I went to The Breast Center (what my husband calls Hooters) to have wires placed to help the surgeon find his mark. One was placed during a mammogram and the other during an ultrasound. I headed over to Cone with those filament-like wires taped to me.
In pre-op I got to spend a bit of time with an OR nurse, former student, who was with me in the operating room. My last thought before the nurse anesthetist knocked me out was, This is more weird than comforting. She's going to see me completely nak . . .
During the four-hour surgery, I had six incisions, one for a 2.8 cm cancerous tumor, one for a suspicious lymph node and cyst, and a large one for a biopsy of three sentinel lymph nodes. The other three were to place the portacath through which my chemotherapy and Herceptin will be injected next year.
As of this morning, all the anesthesia has worn off, and I'm hurting. I can take Percocet every four hours, and that knocks me out enough to keep me from reaching, lifting, and doing other such forbidden things. Samuel keeps trying to climb up on me, and it's so hard to explain why we can't cuddle! He has been a little trooper, and my Aunt Beverly--whom he calls "Nana Bev"--has kept him busy.
One of the best decisions I made before surgery was setting up a Meal Train so that my mom would not have to worry about meals while taking care of this clan. I have two slots left for December if anyone wants to jump on.
I will probably start chemotherapy the first or second week of January, but I don't have an exact schedule yet. Once I do, there will be a meal schedule for the days following each treatment, with more days near the end of the 18-week duration when the cumulative effects of the chemo will be worse.
I love having visitors! Friends with kids kept us entertained yesterday, and I went to sleep last night feeling encouraged and loved. Thank you all for praying; God hears you and loves you.
On Thursday morning, I went to The Breast Center (what my husband calls Hooters) to have wires placed to help the surgeon find his mark. One was placed during a mammogram and the other during an ultrasound. I headed over to Cone with those filament-like wires taped to me.
In pre-op I got to spend a bit of time with an OR nurse, former student, who was with me in the operating room. My last thought before the nurse anesthetist knocked me out was, This is more weird than comforting. She's going to see me completely nak . . .
During the four-hour surgery, I had six incisions, one for a 2.8 cm cancerous tumor, one for a suspicious lymph node and cyst, and a large one for a biopsy of three sentinel lymph nodes. The other three were to place the portacath through which my chemotherapy and Herceptin will be injected next year.
As of this morning, all the anesthesia has worn off, and I'm hurting. I can take Percocet every four hours, and that knocks me out enough to keep me from reaching, lifting, and doing other such forbidden things. Samuel keeps trying to climb up on me, and it's so hard to explain why we can't cuddle! He has been a little trooper, and my Aunt Beverly--whom he calls "Nana Bev"--has kept him busy.
One of the best decisions I made before surgery was setting up a Meal Train so that my mom would not have to worry about meals while taking care of this clan. I have two slots left for December if anyone wants to jump on.
I will probably start chemotherapy the first or second week of January, but I don't have an exact schedule yet. Once I do, there will be a meal schedule for the days following each treatment, with more days near the end of the 18-week duration when the cumulative effects of the chemo will be worse.
I love having visitors! Friends with kids kept us entertained yesterday, and I went to sleep last night feeling encouraged and loved. Thank you all for praying; God hears you and loves you.
Friday, December 5, 2014
Testing Fatigue
The kind of emotional fatigue I'm experiencing today is almost debilitating. I released some anger this morning in the form of hurling one of my son's toys across the living room, and we ended up in a puddle together, sobbing.
My sweet boy has to walk through cancer with me. This morning when I was changing him, he asked, "Doctor today, Mommy?"
No, son. Not today.
It is as if I'm already in treatment, but I'm only in the testing stage. On occasion, some poor health care professional gets the brunt of my frustration, and yesterday it was the tech who told me my weight exceeded the limit for the MRI table. This would be the closed MRI I asked not to be scheduled for. Either way, it was not going to be a good afternoon for the crew at Wesley Long. They were going to get Panic Attack Angie or Find-Me-A-Supervisor Angie, and they got the latter. All hail to the three women who had to deal with my rage yesterday after another teach had already spent 45 minutes trying to find a good vein for the IV.
Here are the tests and appointments I've had so far since October. I held some off until we moved so that I could find new docs, so the first ones are pre-cancer.
Pre-Cancer;
1. optometrist exam
2. opthamologist exam
3. new GP appointment
4. blood drawn for broad panel during checkup
5. pulmonologist appt
6. blood drawn to check for vitamin D deficiency
7. overnight sleep study
8. pulmonologist follow up
9. respiratory therapist appt
Cancer Related
10. initial annual mammogram
11. second mammogram to look at two abnormal spots
12. two needle biopsies (one without numbing meds)
13. third mammogram to make sure the tech could see the markers placed during biopsy
14. manual exam by my gyn
15. blood drawn for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene tests
16. blood drawn for kidney function test
17. MRI, before which my blood was drawn. When I asked what it was being drawn for, the nurse said, "kidney function." I said, "My blood was drawn yesterday to check for kidney function." She looked at her computer and said, "Huh. So it was."
18. third needle biopsy (for naught---the radiologist found it impossible to get the tiny lymph node)
19. oncologist appt
20. surgeon appt
21. physical therapist appt
21. radiation oncologist appt
22. genetic counseling appt
23. blood drawn for more genetic tests
24. follow up appt with GP
25. echocardiogram (baseline because the treatment could damage my heart)
26. PET scan
coming up
27. Saturday--a second MRI
28. Tuesday--cardiologist appt
29. Wednesday--oncologist
30. Thursday--surgery
My sweet boy has to walk through cancer with me. This morning when I was changing him, he asked, "Doctor today, Mommy?"
No, son. Not today.
It is as if I'm already in treatment, but I'm only in the testing stage. On occasion, some poor health care professional gets the brunt of my frustration, and yesterday it was the tech who told me my weight exceeded the limit for the MRI table. This would be the closed MRI I asked not to be scheduled for. Either way, it was not going to be a good afternoon for the crew at Wesley Long. They were going to get Panic Attack Angie or Find-Me-A-Supervisor Angie, and they got the latter. All hail to the three women who had to deal with my rage yesterday after another teach had already spent 45 minutes trying to find a good vein for the IV.
Here are the tests and appointments I've had so far since October. I held some off until we moved so that I could find new docs, so the first ones are pre-cancer.
Pre-Cancer;
1. optometrist exam
2. opthamologist exam
3. new GP appointment
4. blood drawn for broad panel during checkup
5. pulmonologist appt
6. blood drawn to check for vitamin D deficiency
7. overnight sleep study
8. pulmonologist follow up
9. respiratory therapist appt
Cancer Related
10. initial annual mammogram
11. second mammogram to look at two abnormal spots
12. two needle biopsies (one without numbing meds)
13. third mammogram to make sure the tech could see the markers placed during biopsy
14. manual exam by my gyn
15. blood drawn for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene tests
16. blood drawn for kidney function test
17. MRI, before which my blood was drawn. When I asked what it was being drawn for, the nurse said, "kidney function." I said, "My blood was drawn yesterday to check for kidney function." She looked at her computer and said, "Huh. So it was."
18. third needle biopsy (for naught---the radiologist found it impossible to get the tiny lymph node)
19. oncologist appt
20. surgeon appt
21. physical therapist appt
21. radiation oncologist appt
22. genetic counseling appt
23. blood drawn for more genetic tests
24. follow up appt with GP
25. echocardiogram (baseline because the treatment could damage my heart)
26. PET scan
coming up
27. Saturday--a second MRI
28. Tuesday--cardiologist appt
29. Wednesday--oncologist
30. Thursday--surgery
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