Pacifier in the Potty

This morning Gabby came to help with Noah. Jodie picked up Evan and brought him home from school. Blanca came over at 1:30.

At 12:00 Morry and I went to my oncologist appointment. This oncologist recommended a different treatment than the other one. She wants me to do Adriamycin and Cytoxan every 3 weeks for 4 cycles and then paclitaxel weekly for 12 weeks after that. We need to decide which regimen I will go with and see if this doctor in Austin would do either one. We were there for a while. I was scheduled for a bone scan, ovarian cancer screening, and heart scan for next week. They also drew some blood while I was there.

After the appointment I went to Kohls to get some shoes for Jonah’s wedding this weekend.

When I got home, I was on the phone the rest of the afternoon dealing with medical stuff.

Michael got here late afternoon. We all ate dinner together. We had crock pot corned beef, soup, and biscuits.

After dinner Morry, Evan, and Zayde went to the mall to pick up Evan’s tuxedo. Michael and I stayed at home with Noah.

Morry helped get the boys ready for bed and then he left to go to a concert.

Right after Morry left Evan told me he needed to go to the bathroom. After he had peed he was flushing the toilet. As the water started swirling, somehow his pacifier fell from his mouth and into the toilet. Both Evan and I quickly reached our hands in there and tried to fish out the pacifier before it went down the drain. Evan grabbed it and was cracking up. Yuck!

Both boys are still up laughing and playing.

Noah’s Check Up

This morning we had a doctor’s appointment for Noah. It was his 18 month check up and everything looked good. Noah weighs 27 lbs 7oz (70%) and 33.5 inches (70%). Noah got the seasonal flu shot and a hepatitis A shot. We were able to get Evan the H1N1 nasal spray vaccine while we were there too. They didn’t have a seasonal flu shot for Evan or a h1n1 for Noah. We’ll have to try again another time or call around the city.

Blanca came over at 12 and stayed though the afternoon until Morry got home.

When Morry got home we took the boys to get haircuts and then picked up Thai food for dinner.

Evan and Noah are in bed now, but still playing.

Back to School

This morning Morry dropped Evan off at school. Gabby was here this morning to take care of Noah.

From 11:30-2:30 I went to a “Genetics and the Jewish Woman” symposium at the JCC. Most of the information I already knew from meeting with the genetics counselor, but there was some new information that was helpful. I was able to briefly talk with an oncologist (the one I’m going to see on Thursday) and an ovarian cancer specialist from MD Anderson. They were both amazed that I had just had a mastectomy 2 weeks ago and was there.

When I got home Blanca was at the house and the boys were sleeping. Jodie (one of the moms from playgroup and Evan’s class) brought Evan home from school. The kids at school made a poster for us and the families gave us 5 gift cards for restaurants. That was really nice.

For dinner we had a casserole that Beth, from Morry’s work, made for us. It was nice not having to worry about dinner.

Evan and Noah played for a while after dinner. They were running around being silly.

The boys are in bed now, but still playing around and making noises.

Babysitters

We had 2 babysitters come today. Gabby came in the morning, and Blanca came in the afternoon. Evan and Noah seemed very comfortable with Gabby.

When Blanca got here at 12:15 I started getting lunch ready for the boys. Evan ate his shrimp from the other day and a lunchable.

Around 2:30 Blanca helped me put the boys down for naps. They both took good naps.

Morry came home around 5:15 and they were still sleeping. He woke them up at that point so that they would be able to sleep tonight.

Morry made dinner (pork tenderloin and rice).

After dinner we went to the mall so that Evan could get fitted for a tux for Jonah’s wedding. Evan looked really cute in the tux jacket. We go back Thursday to pick up the tux and accessories.

Evan and Noah are in bed now, but I still hear noises upstairs.

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

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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.

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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.

My Health Update

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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 most likely 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.

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I'm home (my parent's house in Dallas) from the hospital. I had surgery Monday afternoon. It was a very long (8+ hour) surgery. The first few days were pretty rough. The pain is getting better each day. It seems to be getting a little better now. Our next appointment is Thursday. We'll meet with the surgeon and go over the surgery results. They'll have a more detailed biopsy report then. The initial report during surgery was good. The lymph nodes appeared to be clear, but they still have more testing to do to thoroughly check them.

Most likely I will begin chemotherapy in a few weeks.

I'm very exhausted right now. They said typically after a surgery like this it takes 3-6 months to get your energy levels back. Just taking a shower wears me out.

I did get out of the house for the first time yesterday. We took the boys to see the Toy Story 3D movie.

I still have the drainage tubes from surgery (2 on each side). Those will hopefully come out next week at some point. I'm hoping to be more comfortable once that happens.

Morry is going to go back home on Sunday to work for a few days and then come back to Dallas on Thurs for my appointment.

Depending on how the appointment goes and how things look I'll probably go back to Austin either the following week or the week after that. We'll see.

It's been tough on the boys not being home. They are having a good time here, just not sleeping as well and they are off of their normal schedule.

thanks again for all your thoughts, prayers, emails, gifts, etc. Morry has shared all of your emails and messages with me.

If you have any questions, want to talk, or know someone in my similar situation please leave a comment or email me.

love, Rachel