Fast Forward

Bob and I spent two weeks in Myrtle Beach driving back to York on September 24th.  My mind was preoccupied with the cancer diagnosis but the weather was great, we had good food, and I had an opportunity to spend time with several family members/friends, which was delightful. We met my sister-in-law, Pam and her husband, Keith, in Georgetown (SC) for lunch one day.  It is always wonderful to catch up with them!  [Pam is my late husband's younger sister who lives near Charleston]  Of course, I enjoyed a bit of retail therapy, too! 
 
Once home, my schedule was packed with appointments, meetings, a massage and time with friends.  I was afforded time to mentally prepare for the surgery. A little known fact is that I am traveling this road with a friend. We were diagnosed at almost the same time.  We ran into each other just before I left for my trip and discovered that our surgery was scheduled for the same day with the same doctor.  She and I talked for hours on the phone, met for gelato and spent the afternoon before surgery at Brown's. The camaraderie and the support that we were able to provide each other is priceless.  A bit surreal-- and a true blessing!  

On September 30, Dr. KimberLee Mudge performed a lumpectomy/partial mastectomy and I was home resting late that afternoon.  Except for some lingering tenderness, the healing is progressing well.

This past Monday, Bob and I met with Dr. Mudge for the Post-Op follow up.  She was pleased with the surgery site.  While going over my pathology report, she was quick to point out that the ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) likely saved my life.  A small (2 mm) spot of invasive lobular carcinoma was found in my tissue.  The doctor explained that it likely would not have appeared on a mammogram for several years and the situation would be very different.  It's surreal being grateful for cancer, but I am grateful for the DCIS.  As an aside, the DCIS shows up as little white specks (micro calcifications) on the mammogram.  As a result of the invasive diagnosis, I am scheduled for a breast MRI on the 15th and additional surgery to remove the sentinel lymph nodes on the 24th.  Please pray that both tests are negative.

On Thursday, Bob and I met with Dr. Fortier, a radiation oncologist for my initial consultation to discuss radiation therapy. Radiation therapy is used to destroy any cancer cells remaining in my breast and is used to lessen the likelihood of recurrence of the cancer.  I am likely a candidate for two options: brachytherapy or external beam radiation.  For now, allow me to just say that the brachytherapy is more intense but a shorter duration than the external beam.  I'll explain more when the determination is made which method we move forward with.   

Thursday afternoon and most of Friday, we had rain that came down in bucketsful.  The lake behind our home overflowed its banks encroaching about half way up the side of the tee box that we overlook.  In addition, it flooded the boulevard, which is the main artery into our development. All told, I believe we had about 10" of rain.  Today we had intermittent sunshine. 

Tomorrow we're heading to Baltimore to watch the Ravens take on the visiting Green Bay Packers.  I was a Packers' fan for many years and have been a Ravens' fan for the past 10 years.  Go Ravens!!