Yesterday and today I have spent a good amount of time on the phone getting things set up. I have an MRI scheduled for Thursday (12/31) and we meet with the surgeon on Monday (1/4). Although they believe that the cancer is only on my left side, they want to make sure they see the full extent of the cancer before I go in for surgery. They want to know exactly how big the area is, they want to check out the other side, they want to look at the lymph nodes, they just want to be really precise so they don't miss anything.
I decided today that I would write a blog because I could tell this morning that my son is already done with mom being on the phone. He just wants to play with mom. Between talking with nurses, getting referals, coordinating care, and talking with family and friends, I've been on the phone more than I want to be these past few days. I figured that by creating a blog I could kind of journal my experience and also have a place where family and friends can see how we're doing and where those who are praying for us could go so that they know specific things to pray for. Please don't take this as a don't call me. I just think that there may be times when I am not as available because I want to focus in on my family.
Specific things to pray for:
1. Continued peace for my family and I.
2. That the MRI would give us a really clear picture and that there will be no spread of or invasive cancer.
3. Wisdom for us as we make decisions about my care
Thanks friends.
Megan
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thank the Lord we caught it early
Just two weeks ago we were a healthy family simply trying to add one more to the bunch. We started trying to get pregnant with a 2nd child 2 1/2 years ago. As I prayed over it this summer I just felt like the Lord told me I needed to take care of my body. I went in and got a root canal done that I had been putting off for about 5 years. The next month, I got pregnant. What a joy! Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage at 11 weeks. Through the prayers and the tears I felt like the Lord just kept saying "you need to take care of your body". And I knew that that meant going in for a mammogram.
My doctor had recommended that I have a mammogram a year ago but honestly, I didn't want to put $300 down the drain. I had no signs of breast cancer. I had my regular exams and the doctors felt no lumps. I thought I was just fine. After all, I just turned 32. My mom had breast cancer at 36 and this was the reason for the doctor recommending I be checked out. Well, after the miscarriage I had met the biggest part of my medical deductible and no longer had to pay $300 for the exam. So, I decided that now was the time to follow through on the mammogram. It was the only other thing I knew needed to be done to "take care of my body".
Half a week after the mammogram I got a call from the cancer center at St.Lukes. They had found an area of concern they wanted to look into more closely. I followed up the following week.
Basically, what the doctors had seen was small patches of calcifications. From my understanding, when a cell is not acting right our immune system goes in a kills the cell. The cell then shows up as a white spot on the mammogram. This is completely normal. However, when a mammogram shows a cluster of white spots on the mammogram they start to wonder what is going on with the cells in that area. The mammogram showed 3 to 4 small clusters of calcifications or "white spots" spread out over about a third to half my breast. As they walked me through the cancer screening center I kept hearing two things "this is why we do mammograms" and "if this is cancer you caught it very early".
A few days later I had a biopsy and on December 24th they told me I have breast cancer. I have an early form of cancer. They call it Ductal Carcinoma In Sinto or DCIS. As far as they can tell, the cancer is still in my milk ducts and it is not an invasive cancer. From my understanding at this point, I think DCIS is either before stage 1 cancer or a stage 1 cancer. Either way, it's early Thank God.
My doctor had recommended that I have a mammogram a year ago but honestly, I didn't want to put $300 down the drain. I had no signs of breast cancer. I had my regular exams and the doctors felt no lumps. I thought I was just fine. After all, I just turned 32. My mom had breast cancer at 36 and this was the reason for the doctor recommending I be checked out. Well, after the miscarriage I had met the biggest part of my medical deductible and no longer had to pay $300 for the exam. So, I decided that now was the time to follow through on the mammogram. It was the only other thing I knew needed to be done to "take care of my body".
Half a week after the mammogram I got a call from the cancer center at St.Lukes. They had found an area of concern they wanted to look into more closely. I followed up the following week.
Basically, what the doctors had seen was small patches of calcifications. From my understanding, when a cell is not acting right our immune system goes in a kills the cell. The cell then shows up as a white spot on the mammogram. This is completely normal. However, when a mammogram shows a cluster of white spots on the mammogram they start to wonder what is going on with the cells in that area. The mammogram showed 3 to 4 small clusters of calcifications or "white spots" spread out over about a third to half my breast. As they walked me through the cancer screening center I kept hearing two things "this is why we do mammograms" and "if this is cancer you caught it very early".
A few days later I had a biopsy and on December 24th they told me I have breast cancer. I have an early form of cancer. They call it Ductal Carcinoma In Sinto or DCIS. As far as they can tell, the cancer is still in my milk ducts and it is not an invasive cancer. From my understanding at this point, I think DCIS is either before stage 1 cancer or a stage 1 cancer. Either way, it's early Thank God.
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