Here we GO!

So where to begin… I guess I’ll just get going and see where we end up!

If you’re reading this then you already know our news- Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer Tuesday August 18th, 2009. The initial ‘abnormality’ was found on her annual routine mammogram. Since there is always a possibility of a false positive with diagnostic technology, she headed back to the clinic for a follow up mammogram. Once again there was a questionable area found- this was described as a small cluster of calcifications in her right breast. We learned that these calcifications can be benign, but the recommended next step was to have a biopsy done. So mom and I headed to a new place, the Hope Chest Breast Center of North Memorial last Monday. It wasn’t a pleasant procedure, but mom did great and our nurse Kelly was amazing. With mom’s zero breast cancer risk factors and statistics showing 80% of these biopsies to be negative, we were nervous, but very doubtful we had anything to worry about.

Tuesday we went about our business, only mom and I were aware of the pending results because we didn’t want to worry anyone for no reason, especially dad! We had plenty to keep us busy as we recently extended and refinished the hardwood floors in the house and therefore decided to take on many more projects including painting the living room!

The news unfortunately didn’t come at the best time- mom was running errands by herself when our nurse Kelly called her. She was told an appointment was scheduled for the following morning with a surgeon to discuss what now. Mom then shared the results with me and informed dad too. Tuesday had its share of tears, hugs and ‘I just can’t believe this!’ And may or may not have included an adult beverage too!

Wednesday morning the three of us headed back to North Memorial to meet with Dr. Mestitz, a general surgeon. We couldn’t have asked for more from him, he was so great! Very professional, intelligent, patient and helpful, he got us on track to start to wrap our heads around what we were faced with. A slight bump came when he shared his plans to head out of town to take his kids back to college, so the soonest he personally could operate was Friday 8/28. We liked the repore we had with Dr. Mestitz, so we got on his surgery schedule for 8/28.

The rest of Wednesday was tough- we broke the news to Andrea and Taylor, and other family and friends. The news of mom’s invasive ductal carcinoma was a shock and I’m sure hard to take for my siblings as they are not in Minnesota- I felt helpless enough, but could still give mom a hug at least! The both of them thankfully will be able to head home Wednesday before the surgery; we are looking forward to all being together.

Thursday brought another appointment, this time to the outpatient imaging center for a pre-op MRI. It’s debatable whether or not an MRI is necessary, since it has the potential to ‘look worse than it is’ as the doctor put it. Sometimes areas show up on an MRI that looks questionable, but they could just be blood vessels for instance. None the less, it was one more hoop to jump through to add more detail to mom’s case for Dr. Mestitz. We won’t have any results until later this week some time.

Mom has been so strong through this difficult week- one of the first things she said was “I can’t have cancer, I don’t have time for this!” You know her, always running in a million directions! She didn’t skip her hockey practice- 1.5hrs on the ice and she said now her hurting legs will keep her mind off her hurting boob! She has remained her positive self and hasn’t been afraid to laugh, sing and joke around- an inspiration to us already. And she’s thankful she looks good in pink too!

In between the many appointments, phone calls (thanks so much for the outpouring of support, we have the best family and friends!), working on getting the house back together and trying to pool as much information and research on this foreign diagnosis, the week has flown by. We are emotionally drained and sleep deprived, but hanging in there. I’m thankful for our medical backgrounds to help us better understand what the doctors are telling us, but sometimes it can be tough to ignore the other personal experiences our jobs have given us, and not think negative thoughts of what cancer can bring. But I do believe it has helped teach me some helpful coping mechanisms I can hopefully pass on to my family.

This week is full of organizing and getting ready for surgery- including one more pre-op MD appointment Wednesday and of course getting this blog up and running! We want to be able to post updates to this site so that everyone can get news in a timely manner- phone calls some times are tough to get done fast because we all love to chat so much!

We are anxious to get this next step over with and begin our fight to beat breast cancer. We also are looking forward to finding out more about the stage of the cancer- we’ve been praying for ‘No Nodes!’ and hope to find out Friday during surgery that the cancer hasn’t spread to her lymph nodes. If it has, then we will go from there, but for now NO NODES PLEASE! Once we get all the pathology results from Friday’s surgery, we will be able to begin to determine the treatment course and will meet with Dr. Londer the oncologist Thursday 9/3.

Thanks again to everyone for all the love and support and offers of help in infinite ways! We will definitely let you know if we need help with a meal or to whom ever offered to clean toilettes, we will keep you posted! Thanks also to our family and friends who have unfortunately been down this same path before us, their wisdom and help is invaluable. And thanks to another friend for graciously stepping up to assist with future lump checks- haha!

We are and will continue to be in high spirits and not let this cancer be a burden. We find strength and motivation in each other and most importantly in God our Father, who in the face of trials brings us love and encouragement. We have not choosen to be in this situation, and it has forced us to examine ourselves and our role on this so-called human journey. I have been forced to take a step back and leave my habits of planning and organizing and realize how little I know about the future and the things in store for me. The strategies we have for our lives can be shattered in an instant and the fact is we really aren’t in control of our destinies, but in deed in control of how we choose to react to them. Things do happen for a reason. People and relationships really are the most important things we have and life would be pretty darn shallow without them. I read on a website that cancer reminds us to “hug a little tighter, love a little longer and always thank God for the gifts He has given us!” Hopefully we all can remember to do that!

To close this inaugural blog I’ll leave you by saying “Life isn’t necessarily fair, but it’s still good!” We will keep you updated as best we can Friday as we are all brought together in the common bond of prayer for mom’s surgery to go well. Thanks again for EVERYTHING!

Love Lindsey (and Mom, Dad, Andrea & Tay!)