Praise Report from my mom...

Hello family & friends,

I met with my surgeon this morning at Walter Reed and was given my pathology report. I am cancer free.  No chemo needed.  My lymph nodes, 3 on the right and 1 node taken on the left, all came back clear/negative for cancer.  I had a peasized tumor, clear margins and stage 1 cancer.  I will be on a hormone supplement only.

I am praising the Lord as I write.  Thank you for all of your prayers, calls, emails and notes of encouragement.

I also had 2 of the 4 drain tubes removed and will have the 2 remaining removed next Monday.  I also received another "fill-up" for my tissue expanders so I feel pumped up today in more ways than one.  

I am feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude and praises for what an Awesome God we serve.

I am on the road to recovery.  I am not the same woman who went into surgery as my heart is filled with God's love and compassion, especially for those suffering with cancer.

Now, to get back to my daily walks, but at a slower pace.

Love and hugs to you all,
Anne

Note from Kat....I cried with relief when I heard this news...please let this speak to the power of God and the importance of MRI's.  Please use this as an opportunity to push your health care systems to allow MRI's for ALL high risk women so they can have such a great outcome.

Home Again

So Mom is home again and is back to usual spunky self.  We arrived home from Walter Reed at about 3 pm today.  We were all ready to come home, her more than the rest of us.  After a night full of frequent wakenings she quickly realized she would rather be home in her own bed instead of in a sterile hospital room where you get leg cuffs that squeeze your legs every minute, connected to machines that beep.  Wakened by nurses that are just as tired and clueless as the patient who is still under massive amounts of drugs.  (Just one nurse, the rest were actually great.)  

I decided to spend the night in my mom's room when we realized that the overworked/understaffed floor was going to make it difficult to even get help to the restroom.  As we all know, when you gotta go, you gotta go, and you can't wait 45 minutes for a nurse to come help, but after a major surgery, you are not safe to brave the walk to the restroom alone.  I helped her with my experience in navigating drains, bathroom trips, regular pain meds and sorting out all the various drs. instructions.  She has conveyed several times that she was thankful to have a familiar face to help her navigate through her evening.  Isn't it funny how life's roles take us full circle?

Dad returned home and got some much needed rest after having gotten up very early and waiting around all day for my mom's surgery.  My aunt Mary Rita (Dad's sister) came to the waiting room and spend most of the day engaging my dad in lively conversation to help pass the time.  He was really thankful to have her there.  I arrived to the hospital around 7 pm, after driving straight up from Blacksburg. (about 5 hours).  

It will be 7-10 days for Mom to receive her full pathology report, but all indications now are all that we could have asked for.  She is healing well.  She has very little pain and her spirits are good.  

Please continue to pray for a clear pathology and the right combination of factors that could allow her to skip chemo.  

Thank you for your prayers, she can feel them....

Anne / Mom is out of surgery

Mom came out of surgery at about 4pm and everything went smoothly. There is no visual indications of cancer in the lymph nodes. Please pray that the pathology report confirms that they are cancer-free.

She is feeling some minor discomfort from tightness in the chest, but otherwise is feeling well. (It feels like a sports bra that's way too small.)

I arrived at around 7pm to her room and she was a bit loopy from the drugs but in good spirits. I will update you more later as I get more details.

Please keep praying; she feels your prayers.

Kat

Mom's Surgery Moved to Today

Just wanted to let you all know that Mom's surgery was moved to today because it allowed the surgeon to have more time in the OR. She went under the knife sometime around 9-10 am.  I will update you all later today as I have more details.  PLEASE PRAY for clear nodes, no complications and an easy recovery.  I will let you all know more later.

I am leaving Blacksburg, VA at 1pm to travel up to be with her.  (about a 5-6 hour trip). 

blessings,

Kat

Words from Anne

"There is nothing, no circumstance, no trouble, no testing that can ever touch me until first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ, right through to me. If it has come that far, it has come with a great purpose, which I may not understand at the moment, but as I refuse to become panicky, as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it as coming from the throne of God for some great blessing to my own heart, no sorrow will ever disturb me, no trial will ever disarm me, no circumstance will cause me to fret, for I shall rest in the joy of what the Lord is."
- Alan Redpath

Update on the pesky other nodes

Jim calls my cancer a very formidable enemy who needs to be taken seriously, confronted and given a death blow.
An update on my ultrasound appt this am.  After doing the ultrasound trying to locate the abnormal lymph node cells, they couldn't do a fine needle aspiration (FNA) as there appeared to be no abnormal or pathological nodes to do a FNA, but since the small cluster of (not totally normal) nodes are buried so deep that the fine needle couldn't get to them, they will go ahead and do a sentinel node dissection on both breasts during surgery.  Good news, bad news.  If they could have done a FNA today and found my nodes were negative, they would know that no more nodes were involved.  Pray for cancer-free nodes on both sides.  I will have to wait for results.  If both sides show negative nodes, which is more than likely on the right side, they will not have to go in and do another surgery to remove all of the auxiliary nodes (I think this is correct)..Kat is concerned about lymphadema even with just 2-3 nodes removed. Dr. Weiss, my medical onocologist at Walter Reed, would be shocked if any positive nodes were found on my right side.  Georgetown concurred that is how they would proceed also, since some raised nodes appeared in the MRI findings.  I am so tired as we left at 7am for a 9:30 appt. at Walter R.and made it just in time due to morning traffic.  The breast center team is top notch, but the drive is a challenge.  Praise God I have access to such a fine facility and team...I could live out in the rural area where options are more limited.  Thank you, one and all, for your prayers and loving words of support.   This is a little c in my life.  Jesus Christ is the big C and is carrying my burdens on His shoulders.
Anne
  

Hey Stupid Cancer...leave my family alone

So I am starting up my blog again.  This time it is for my mom, Anne.  After years of annual mammograms I encouraged  my mom to start getting MRI's after my diagnosis.  For high risk women this is considered the most accurate and valuable diagnostic tool for detecting cancer as early as possible.   Since my mom has had 4 sisters and a daughter with breast cancer, plus she is BRCA2+ she is VERY high risk.  Last year the MRI came back all clean. 

This year...different story.  After the MRI found a suspicious area she had a needle biopsy and was diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC) the same type of cancer I had two years ago.  Her initial pathology indicates a hormone positive cancer (a good thing) and the aggressiveness is Grade 2 (she has no Stage yet, this is just about the aggressiveness).   This is on a scale of 1-3 so this is the "mid level" of aggressiveness.  This is better than my very aggressive Grade 3 cancer, so a good thing.

My brother Matt & I drove up to Northern VA last friday and I went along with my mom and dad to a full day of doctors (plastic surgeon, radiology oncologist, medical oncologist, psychologist, surgeon)  It was a long day, but having been through this with myself and now helping at least 5 other women navigate this initial post-diagnosis frenzy, I worked to break down the basics for my folks and help them survey their options and questions left unanswered.  

They have decided at this point not to have a formal second opinion because of the logistics involved in going outside the military system.  They have had a Doctor at Walter Reed Army medical center have some of his collegues look at my mom's case, but no formal second opinion at this time.

Her initial surgery (she has opted for a double mastectomy because of the high risk to developing a second cancer in any remaining breast tissue) is set for October 2nd.  

Please pray for these things...

--she has enlarged lymph nodes on the opposite side from her cancer and in any normal situation this would be no big deal, but since she is undergoing cancer surgery, these lymph nodes need to at least be investigated in some way.  Please pray this process will be with as little intervention as possible and please pray for a clear indication that these and ALL OTHER LYMPH NODES ARE CLEAR

--please pray for the decision process of navigating doctors, options, treatments, etc.

--Please pray for the actual surgery, surgeon, anethesia, recovery, pain maintainance. 

--please pray for us as her family:  Dad, Lara, Joe, Kathleen, Matt and our families that we would know how to serve her best, that we would have the emotional strength to endure, support, care, love, laugh and pour out to each other and my mom.

--please pray that all decisions would be clear and without ambiguity.  that the Lord's direction and path would be lit clearly.

Please check back for ongoing updates in my mom's fight.  She's got the boxing gloves on and she will fight.

Kat