I'm Back - It's Good to be Home

************
For those of you that don't know what's going on read here... otherwise skip to the next section.

A few weeks ago I noticed a lump. A few different doctors all thought it was just a cyst. My ob/gyn said to wait a few weeks and see if it went away. Since breast cancer runs in the family, my parents insisted I get it checked out sooner. I went to have the cyst aspirated (drained), but when it wouldn't drain a biopsy was done. Even then, the surgeon said not to worry, it was probably just tissue that needed to be removed. To everyone's surprise, I got the dreaded news on Friday, September 25. All they knew at that point was that the lump was cancerous. Other test results were still pending.

We were able to get an appointment with a top breast surgeon at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas on Thursday 10/1. So, we all made the trip to Dallas for what we thought would just be a consultation. We had a very long day that Thursday. We met with various doctors. I had a lot of tests done. We were very impressed with everything and decided to go ahead and have surgery in Dallas.

The cancer was only on one side, but we (and the doctors) decided the best thing in my case was to have a double mastectomy. I have the BRCA1 gene mutation which gives me a 50% chance of getting cancer again on the other side. Since I’m young (31) they said just going ahead with that surgery (rather than just a lumpectomy) would give me peace of mind for the future.

They were able to quickly fit me in for surgery on Monday (10/5). So, 10 days after getting the bad news I was at the hospital having the surgery. I ‘m glad we got things moving so quickly.

Last week we met with the surgeon and the oncologist. The final results of the biopsy/surgery were complete. It appears they removed all of the cancer. The margins were clear and the lymph nodes were clear. The second suspicious spot turned out not to be cancer. There was just the one tumor that measured 1.3cm. I am at stage 1, which means we caught it early.

The oncologist does recommend I do chemotherapy. Even though it seems the cancer has been removed, there could still be a cancer cell somewhere that they want to make sure to get rid of. The oncologist we met with today recommends a combination of 2 drugs (docetaxel/taxotere and cyclophosphamid/cytoxan). I would get it 4 times total - once every 3 weeks = 12 weeks total. Most likely that will begin around the middle of November.

***********

Morry, Evan, Noah, Lizzy, and I came drove back to Austin yesterday. It’s good to be home. The boys and I were in Dallas for 2 ½ weeks. Evan and Noah seemed happy to be back as well.

Jack/Zayde is here now with us. He’ll stay for the week to help. We also have babysitters scheduled to come during the day while Morry is at work.

This morning Morry made pancakes. He made blueberry ones for the boys. Noah ate a little of them, but Evan ate a ton. He loved those pancakes.

Morry, Jack, Evan, and Noah watched the Steelers game. We put the boys down for naps at half-time.

For dinner, Morry made spaghetti. Then, we went out for dessert. We tried a new frozen custard place called Likkety’s Frozen Custard. They have a double decker bus outside that they let kids draw on with chalk. The custard was good. Evan asked for vanilla with gummy bears. We got plain vanilla for Noah. After eating, the boys enjoyed drawing on the bus. Evan kept wanting Morry to write Evan’s name on the bus. He liked seeing his name up there.

When we got home Morry gave the boys baths. It took them a while to fall asleep, but it sounds quiet up there now.