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.....