Good news!

Mom got a good report from the doctor today. The pathology report showed no cancer in the right breast and no cancer in the lymph nodes on the right or left sides. There was only 5mm area in the left breast that was cancerous. They got all of that out. The chemo was actually working this whole time, but the doctor said the high cancer counts came from the dead cancer cells that were falling into the blood stream so quickly. So the doctor said Mom needs to finish her last chemo treatment because chemo can be like antibiotics--you need to take them all. The next steps: She sees the oncologist on the 29th to set up that last chemo apointment. Then she'll have 48 weeks of Herceptin treatments (to keep killing the estrogen in her body) and 5 weeks of radiation (5 days a week).

Mom got all her drainage tubes out today, so she's happy to have those gone. We're so grateful for these results. This is what we've been praying for! We're so thankful for all your prayers. We feel like the hardest part of this is over. There's still a long road ahead of us, but this is all good news!

L

Recovery time!

Hello all and thanks for praying for mom. I'm sorry I didn't update this the day of, but I was in Alabama and Florida and couldn't! Mom did great with her surgery. The doctor said that she felt confident that they got the whole tumor. I believe we'll find out tomorrow for sure. I talked with Mom on the phone right after her surgery and boy, was she happy! That morphine was good to her. She's surprised me in how well she's been recovering though. She's staying at her parents' house and goes walking with grandpa every other day or so. I don't think I'd be able to walk after that even if I wanted to! She keeps up on her pain pills and apparently feels pretty good. It was nice to see her last night when we got home. She's her usual chipper, upbeat self! Thank you for your prayers and I'll update again after the doctor's appointment tomorrow.

L

It's surgery time

Well, unfortunately the second kind of chemo is not working either. Mom's cancer counts have gone up into the 80s after starting in the 20s. The good news is that she's done with chemo for right now. This chemo has been rough in a different way than the first. She's felt like an old lady with some serious arthritis. Since the last update, she gave us some fun with some crazy low blood counts. They wanted to do a blood transfusion, but didn't have to go that route because of a blood builder they've been giving her. That was an answer to prayer because Mom really didn't want to have to do that.

So, since the chemo still isn't working and the cancer is still growing, they're going to take it out. She has an MRI tomorrow and then she'll have surgery on June 15. She'll have a double mastectomy. They'll take all the lymph nodes from her left side and will do a biopsy of the nodes on the right. She hopes to spend just one night in the hospital. I want her to stay as long as they tell her to, but you know Mom...she can be stubborn! :) She'll stay with her parents for a week after they let her go. She'll be off work for, at the minimum, four weeks. Ben and I will be in Alabama during her surgery to take pictures at a wedding and I absolutely HATE that. So you friends of Mom--please take care of my Momma while I'm gone. I expect her in one piece when I get back! :)

After surgery, she'll have to have radiation and Herceptin shots for quite a while. (The shots for 48 weeks I think.)

Pray that she'll be prepared mentally for this surgery and that she'll recover quickly. Most importantly, pray that they get every little bit of this cancer out of her. We're ready for this to be over. Mom needs a vacation. :)

Thanks for your continued support!

Linds