Cancer #1

As promised, details. 

Rinne is napping and Alta is playing with bubbles in the sink so this will be a quick overview! (Already I hear her saying .. I need more soap, Mom.) 

+ I found the lump in May after I finished nursing Rinne. It feels like a round, thick marble. 

+ We thought it was a fibroadenoma so we didn't worry. My OBGYN thought the same thing but *luckily* sent me for an ultrasound anyways. 

+ Last week, I had the ultrasound. The lump was more of an irregular shape and there were little white dots everywhere (meaning calcification which is very uncommon for someone my age) 

+ They had me stay for a mammogram and then a biopsy. (After the mammogram, Dave came.) 

+ We pushed the radiologist and she said, she thought it was cancer.

+ The next morning she confirmed it after the pathology results came back. She got us in to see a breast cancer surgeon that afternoon. 

+ We spent most of the day trying to figure out where we should do the surgery and all that stuff - but finally- after the appt - we decided to stick with our doctor and Montefiore.

+ She wanted me to go for genetic testing and an MRI to see if there was anything else. 

+ Thursday, I had a breast MRI and they didn't find anything else :) 

+ We met with her again on Tuesday the markers were back from the pathology. The cancer is feeding off of estrogen and progesterin so one way to battle it will be to take Tamoxifen which basically puts you in a menopausal state for 5 years. (yay?) Which means, no more kids for us for awhile...

+ We didn't have the other marker back yet. She made an appt for us to meet with a plastic surgeon.

+ The hardest day for me (since finding out) was the day I met with the genetic counselor. I thought it was genetic testing not genetic counseling. The appt was very overwhelming and honestly, I was not prepared for it. She made me doubt my choice to do a double mastectomy (which is what I'm currently planning on) and I just felt terrified the whole day. Wondering if I was going to make the wrong choice. (I'm still feeling semi-terrified but at a more controllable level) (It's kind of like choosing between a lot of not ideal choices) The testing can confirm somethings or not really give you a lot of helpful information.  

+ Friday, we met with the plastic surgeon. We waited in her office for two hours....but she was really great. (Actually the story of this experience so far is Dave and I rearranging our lives - work and kids - and sitting in offices for a long time. Bored. Phones running out of battery. Hungry and cold.) 

+ We got her to check on the Her2 marker which was negative - I think that's a yay. One girl I talked to said that was another reason she had to do chemo

+ But the tumor is stage 1-2, invasive so.. don't get your hopes up.

+ So we have a surgery date! November 6th. After that I'll be out for a couple of weeks (my parents will be here) and then I won't be able to lift anything over 5-10 lbs for a couple of weeks after that. Dave's family is going on a cruise Nov 26 and of course, I'd like to hit that as well :)

This process is very piece-y, very slow, very random. One day things are better, one day they are not. First step is surgery and after that, we'll start figuring out all the other things. (At this point here's my guess - 100% hormone therapy, 70% chemo, 25% radiation. We'll see if I'm right) I'm feeling really grateful for this girl's blog. I've read everything she's had to say about BC. Also, more grateful to know that we won't go through this whole thing alone. It's been awesome to have all of our resident/co-worker/doctor friends care so much and be so helpful. It's been awesome to have our family and friends to check in and offer everything. And last week, Dave got to take Alta to preschool and see her classroom! Thank you for that Cancer.