MRI Results

Here are ALL the details:

I had an MRI scheduled for this past Tuesday at 6:30 am.  Apparently they did not get the memo that I am NOT a morning person.  So I got up at the crack of dawn for my appointment.  I arrived on time (so proud of myself) and they tell me that they can't find my orders so they can't do the MRI.  I proceed to tell them that they called me to make the appointment so they must have the orders.  They looked some more - can't find them.  They tell me that all the people that could figure this paperwork problem out did not get in until 8 am.  Seriously???  I got up that early for nothing?  They then sent the MRI tech out to talk to me.  He said he would get to the bottom of it and make sure he fit my MRI in later that day.  He could tell I was not pleased (though I was being really nice) so he gave me a card for a free breakfast in the hospital cafe.  I went and pigged out on the hospital's dime and then went home.  Right before I arrived at home they called & said the paperwork was found and asked if I could make a 9 am appointment.  So I turned right back around for my MRI.  This was not like any MRI I have had before.  I laid on my stomach and my breasts hung down through 2 holes.  I had an IV for the contrast.  The MRI itself was pretty non-eventful though.  It only took 4 hours to get a 45 minute test complete.  Oh well...  When I got home I tried to go back to my normal do to stuff, but I felt yucky.  I felt like I do after my CAT scans.  The contrast doesn't make me full-on sick, but I felt bad enough that all I wanted to do was nap and lay around all day....so I did (thanks mom).

By Tuesday evening the breast surgeon's scheduler was already calling me to schedule an appointment to discuss the MRI.   We played phone tag - got a hold of him Wednesday morning. We couldn't find a time since I was going out of town this week and the doctor was going out of town for 3 weeks starting this weekend.  We were going to have to delay the surgery - I did NOT want to do that.  Finally, I asked if there were any cancellations for that day - he found one -HOORAY!

Corey & I met with the breast surgeon and breast care coordinator.
  Here are the details from the MRI:
- They found NO cancer in my left breast
- There were NO swollen lymph nodes - this is very good news.  This does not mean for sure that the cancer hasn't spread beyond my breast, but it is a good sign.
- The cancer is all over my right breast, but there were two major areas of concern on the MRI.  It is classified as a ACR category six known malignancy.  There was an extensive area of enhancement that stretched from near the chest wall all the way to the nipple.  It measured 13 x 4 x 7.2 cm in size.  There was another area of the right breast that was showing a similar enhancement worrisome for tumor that measured 2.9 x 2.4 x 1.8 cm.  There are many other smaller areas of enhancement that all measure less than 1.0 cm scattered around the breast.
- There is a 2.2 cm lesion in my liver (I already knew about this from previous CT scans) that they believe is a cyst.  It has not grown since my last CT scan back in January.
- I still have a post-biopsy related hematoma measuring 2.4 cm in diameter.  (no wonder my breast is still swollen and sore)
Here is the plan:
- I am scheduled for a total right breast mastectomy on October 18th.  They believe this is really my only option.  The cancer is too widespread and dangerous.  Apparently the recovery for this surgery is only 2-3 weeks.  All of the pathology reports will be back about 2 weeks after my surgery.  At this time we can make a plan for treatment.
- I told him of my long time desire to get a breast reduction.  I currently wear a size 34I or J.  Before I had kids I was a 32D (much more reasonable).  They are ridiculously large.  I have horrible back issues and know that reducing the size will help my back pain.  He told me the best avenue is to do the reduction on the left breast AFTER all my treatments are over.  I will most likely start the breast reconstruction surgeries (usually takes 4 surgeries) on my right breast at the same time as the breast reduction.  It will be a long hard road.  They said the mastectomy is nothing compared to the breast reconstruction surgeries.
- I am not happy about how lopsided I will be for awhile.  This will not be fun.  But, I am EXTREMELY curious how much weight I will lose from chopping off one of the ladies.  I know I am morbid.

I can't even believe how much response I have gotten to this recent announcement of mine.  It is truly wonderful to feel so loved.
Thank you for all the support - prayers- offers of help - good vibes - and jokes (laughter is truly my favorite medicine).

As in the words of one of my friends; I will truly be a One-Boob Wonder :)

Love you ALL!!!!

Cancer #2...Boo to Cancer!!!

I am not a private person.  I do not tell this story to be dramatic or make people feel sorry for me.  I tell it so everyone who cares about me can be informed.  Information is power!  So here is the story so far.......

Well, I went to my Ob-Gyn back in January for the yearly visit and he ordered my first mammogram.  I am in my 40's now so time to start getting mammograms.  I was not thrilled about it because I have heard women complain about how uncomfortable it is or painful.  So I kinda forgot about it for awhile.  Back in August I remembered I needed to go get one so I scheduled it.
On August 28th I had my first mammogram.  HELLO - why do women complain about it??  It was not a big deal at all......SERIOUSLY!!
A few days later I got called back for a 2nd mammogram.  They said this is pretty standard to be called back for a 2nd one - especially when it was your very first one ever.  They said not to worry - so I did not worry.  So they took some magnified scans of my right breast a week later on September 5th.
Then they called me 2 days later to schedule a biopsy.  They said there were "areas of concern".  But, again they said not to worry.  They said about 80% of the time the biopsies come back with no problems.  So I did not worry too much.

I showed up on September 12th for my biopsy.  I found out that they were going to do two biopsies - fun for me!!  Anyways, the biopsy itself wasn't painful at all, BUT I had to lay on this SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE table on my stomach with my boobs hanging through this hole for 1 1/2 hours.  Seriously, the biopsy didn't hurt, but I have scoliosis and arthritis in my hip & spine and it was so awful laying in the same position for that long.  The bed was hard and too short for my LONG body.  My head was hanging off the table too so by the time it was over my neck was dying.  I am pretty sure a MAN invented this table.  No woman would have designed such an uncomfortable thing.
Of course my luck I was a bleeder (not the normal) and I developed a hematoma.  By the time I got home my right breast was super swollen and all bruised up.  Normally after a breast biopsy you recover really quickly.  They told me unfortunately that I was going to be hurting for awhile.  It definitely wasn't the worst pain I have experienced, but it was super annoying and sore.  Then, it got even better!!  I developed a nasty rash over the incision sites.  It was TERRIBLE.  Oh man....no fun.
The biopsy was on a Wednesday and they told me that I would maybe have the results on Friday, but for sure by Monday/Tuesday.

On Friday I missed a call from my doctor.  She left a message saying to hurry and call her back because she was leaving early that day and wouldn't be able to talk to me until Monday.  So I called back and of course I had missed her.  But, she left this cryptic message for me to dwell on all weekend. "She wanted you to know you were being referred for surgery and she will call you back first thing on Monday."  AAAAARRGGHHH!!!  Are you serious?  It would have been better to just wait until Monday to talk to me.  I was not impressed with this poor communication by my doctor.  So I worried a little all weekend.  On Monday, September 17th  I finally talked with my doctor while I was in the middle of a grocery store.  She told me the biopsy came back as cancer and I was being referred to a breast surgeon.  That is all she had for me.  I at least had the sense to ask her what type of cancer and she said DCIS (Ductal Carcinoma In Situ).  I walked around Winco in a daze and finished my grocery shopping.  I held it together...I was proud of myself.  I went home and I did some research.  It didn't seem too bad.  They had caught it early.

I immediately was scheduled to meet with the breast surgeon 2 days later on September 19th (my daughters birthday) to get the whole picture.
Corey and I met with the breast surgeon for about an hour, then the breast care coordinator for another hour, then to the lab for some bloodwork  Here are some of the details:
- DCIS is when the cancer is still contained in the milk ducts - this is good news.
- They showed me the scans and showed me ALL the areas I had DCIS.....they were ALL over my right breast.  It was pretty overwhelming to see all the areas.  It seemed as if the cancer was in every single milk duct.
- The biopsy showed that I had a micro-invasion.  This meant that in the area of the biopsy the cancer cells were starting to leave the milk ducts.
- Basically, because it is all over they are recommending a mastectomy with a sentinel lymph node biopsy.  They said if they did a lumpectomy I would have a grossly misshapen breast and they most likely would not be able to get all the cancer out.  They need the lymph node biopsy to make sure the cancer has not spread past my breast.
- I have a tentative surgery date of October 18th.  I was happy he was going to be out of town until the 17th because we are taking a trip to Disneyland and Newport Beach and we get back the 17th.  I was really worried he would make me cancel my trip.  He told me that even if he was in town he would have made me go on the trip.  He said that was a perfect thing to do since the next year of my life was going to be a long, hard journey.
- I will need a MRI to rule out cancer in the left breast and for surgical planning.  The MRI will happen sometime this next week.
- They do NOT know what my treatment plan will be until after the surgery.  They will use the pathology report from the surgery to decide this.  There are so many types of breast cancer and each one has a different protocol.  They did say they think chemotherapy is very likely in my case.
- As long as the cancer has not spread to the lymph nodes I have a 99% survival rate.
- They told me I am poster child of why you should start getting mammograms at age 40.  The people that say you should wait until you are 50 are MORONS.  So ladies....GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS.  Think of what would have happened to me if I had waited any longer!!!!

I have been so busy this past week with my daughter's 8th birthday and baptism that I have not really had time to think about this or really process it.   It does not seem real.  I have not freaked out or cried too much yet.  The thing I have cried about the most is the fact I will not be able to lead my primary kids in the primary program next month (sorry non-LDS friends if this doesn't make sense - I have been teaching the kids ages 3-11 at my church 10 songs all year and they will perform them in front of our whole congregation in October).  I will not even be able to see it because it is 10 days after my surgery.  I put my heart and soul into teaching those songs all year and I am extremely sad I will not see it through.  How silly that I am more sad about that than having cancer again & getting one of my boobs cut off.  I am ridiculous :)

Before this blog post I had only informed immediate family members of this news.  I am now ready for it to be public.  I will fight this stupid cancer and win again.  I will need as many prayers, good vibes, happy thoughts, and support that I can get.  So please send it my way.  I am blessed that I have such a loving family that is willing to drop everything and come help me.  I am REALLY bad about asking for help, but I know I will need it. 
I will try to keep people updated through Facebook and my blog so check back.....

My Favorite Rolls

 I got this recipe from my sister years ago and they are by far my FAVORITE roll.  I make them all the time not only due to my own bread addiction, but my whole family gobbles these rolls up.

2 Tbsp yeast
2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees F)
1/3 cup softened butter
2 tsp salt
1/3 c. + half of 1/3 c. of sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup dry milk
5-6 cups of flour
*** extra butter needed later in the recipe

Mix all ingredients (only 2 cups of flour) with a fork.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Add the rest of the flour one cup at a time.  Knead with hands. Let rise until doubled (usually 1 hour).  Punch, cut in half, roll out in a circle, coat with softened butter, cut like a pie until you have 16 pieces.  Roll like croissants.  Put on cookie sheet and let them rise again for 1 hour - 1 hour 20 minutes.  Cook at 350 degrees F for 10-15 minutes or golden brown.  Brush rolls with melted butter.  Recipe makes 32 rolls.

WARNING:  Do not make these if you are on a diet. 

 You can't eat only one :)

Carlie is EIGHT!

 Today was Carlie's 8th birthday.  I can't believe my daughter is that old.  She is the sunshine in my life. 

Today at school my mom, Berkeley, & I delivered some special pink & purple cupcakes for Carlie to share with her classmates.  It was so fun.  She was so excited to have us visit.

 such fun and yummy cupcakes

 Carlie and her amazing teacher Mrs. Sharer.

 Had all her presents displayed for her when she got home from school. 

 She squealed with delight when she saw it :)

 My rockin' mom made extra cupcakes for Carlie to share 

with her neighborhood friends after school.

 Buddies!!

 time to unwrap presents

 my mom gave Carlie a Forget Me Not themed present - so beautiful

 do you think she is excited to get more Skylanders?

and of course another dinosaur for my aspiring paleontologist

 It was a pretty low key birthday, but she loved it.  The BIG party is on Saturday anyways :)

Berkeley Starts Preschool - HOORAY for ME!!!

 

 Last Friday was a visit day at Berkeley's new preschool.  He was so excited to go check out his school.  I think his favorite part was all the new toys and climbing on this apparatus below on the playground.  He was so proud of himself that he could climb to the top.

 

 Today was Berkeley's official first day of Preschool.  He insisted on taking a picture next to the scarecrow people on our front porch.

 look at the smile

 dancing in the car!

He is all set up and ready to rock preschool.

I am even more excited about preschool than my beautiful little boy.  He gets to have some wonderful, enriching experiences three times a week AND I get a 2 1/2 hour break three times a week. In the words of my old teacher buddy Patrick,  "I am LIVING THE DREAM."   :)