Vacations are good for everyone

 Surgery is scheduled. We requested a date after our trip to Iceland…our vacation that has been booked and paid for since mid 2024. And the first date offered was JULY 15. Wow I thought we would be doing surgery sooner but it seems the surgeon and the plastic surgeon are both taking time off early July for   Vacation! So we have time for a little more golf this summer and maybe we can squeeze in Camp Stanford with Sophia. For now I feel good and will just keep planning for some downtime later this summer.

Today’s quote:

“Science has ever drummed up quite as effective tranquilizing agent as a warm sunny spring day”

Ups Downs and good news

 So some of you have gotten some  updates while we were in Boston. But here’s a long post since then. To make a complete update here, we went to Boston an April 30. Jessica had her lumpectomy on May 1 and it was a quick and successful procedure. Back home by noon and not in a lot of pain. Bags of frozen peas were the standard of care for two day. We were so happy to see posted path results that Jessica’s lymph node were clear on May 3. We thought this meant no chemo for  Jessica but no, there was another test of the removed tumor to determine the type of cancer cells and if they were an aggressive type chemo would still be recommended. The waiting game continues.We celebrated a wonderful fifth birthday for Sophia on May 6 and we returned to Toledo on the 7th. I met with the plastic surgeon on May 8 and decided that the lumpectomy/lift was the appropriate path for me. However the final piece for me was an MRI of the breast on Monday May 12. Thinking this was a simple test I went alone on Monday morning to Toledo hospital and had the MRI. No problem for me but they found a questionable tumor on the MRI and felt an ultrasound was needed. Great just a walk down the hall and ultrasound sound performed.  Now they review and say let’s take another mammogram and see if this “spot” is more clearly defined.  Of course it isn’t and now the radiologist comes in says we need to do another biopsy on this spot. Of course at this point I lose it. Take my boob why do they need another biopsy. They are going in, just take it all. Well the radiologist explained it pretty well that it needed to be done for the surgeon to do anything. I called Steve at this point and he came for this final part of my Monday. At the hospital at 9am home by 2. But the waiting game begins again with results not expected for 3-5 days. Ugh!!

Today! I think it is finally time for some good news. The breast surgeon calls and says the second mass in my right boob is benign. She still wants to take it out with the lumpectomy and test again but probably it isn’t an issue. Whew. Then Jessica calls and her oncotype test results are in the range that no chemo is recommended. Hallelujah. Today was a good day. Thanks for prayers and good thoughts. We appreciate them and know they are helping.

I love looking for daily quotes and wish I could make more of my own but some great minds have said great things so…

My thought for today from Robert Frost,  “ in three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on”

My Own Quote Today

The genetics appointment was very interesting today. They will actually be testing 85 genes as well as my RNA. The testing is covered by insurance these days because the treatment plans differ when certain genes are present. The research is very interesting and as I try to write about it I can’t find the words to do so because I don’t even quite understand all the possible things that were talked about. I feel like my sample will be run and filed away as nothing out of the ordinary. One thing we did find interesting was that only 5-10% of all cancers can be proven to be hereditary. Another 10-20% they think may be hereditary but there isn’t enough information to prove one way or the other and about 70% of all cancers are random. My blood draw was not so good. It took 2 tries in one arm before success in the second arm. I’m told I have rolling veins. The tech just said third time is always the charm.

So my quote today is a variation of this one:

Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.”—Will Rogers

I revised it to “

Don’t let worrying about tomorrow take up too much of today.”

Monday, Monday

 Another beautiful day and how wonderful it is for the personal spirit to have nice weather. It is suppose to change tomorrow so I spent time outside collecting sunshine and warm breezes today.

Tomorrow brings another unusual appointment. Genetic testing. Well actually I guess they call it counseling and then they collect blood as long as you agree with all of the counseling they give you and IF you want to know the results. Some markers have come from the biopsy but this will look at nearly 40  genes associated with hereditary cancers. Jessica has her results which were needed for her ultimate treatment but I think mine will be more useful in a research way. Also Jessica requested I complete it for Sophia. Hopefully the research being done now will result in many improvements in diagnosing cancer in the future. The testing is done in California and results usually take 10-14 days so we won’t know much of anything different tomorrow.

Todays thought:

 If you look at what you have in life, you'll always have more. If you look at what you don't have in life, you'll never have enough.

Beautiful Sunny Spring Sunday

 “Where flowers bloom so does hope”

The blue sky, the flowering trees, and green, green grass are all so uplifting today. To feel good and yet know there is an evil growing inside me is hard to imagine. Except that is the problem with so many cancers today. You don’t know anything is wrong and your life may just be smoothly rolling along. The diagnosis shocks. But then the treatment begins and that is when you don’t feel good anymore. Perhaps it is like the seasons though. By next spring all will be fresh again. And just maybe I’ll keep blooming  flowers everywhere this year. 

Saturday April 26

 I am feeling pretty good today. At the appointment on Thursday I met with the breast surgeon and she says it is a small enough area for lumpectomy with  no lymph nodes removal because DCIS (ductile carcinoma in situ) is a non invasive cancer while it is contained in the milk duct. She says I will need radiation after but I still have some questions on that. But… the other option is work with plastic surgeon for boob lift since they will be somewhat different after the amount of potential cancer and calcifications are removed. So meeting with plastic surgeon that the breast surgeon works with when we get back from Boston.  The breast surgeon loves this approach because she can go for wider margins and then the plastic surgeon takes over and makes both boobs look the same. Almost as good as mastectomy with reconstruction from tummy tuck but much less recovery. Doc was very confident stage 0 and no spread and very low likelihood of 10 year recurrence. No hormones needed after since I am hormone receptor negative. And we can work around Boston time and Iceland trip. Meaning we will go to Boston next week for Jessica’s surgery and we will go on our Iceland trip in June. My surgery will be immediately after we return from Iceland but no specific date yet as there are still a few pieces that could change. I feel pretty good about it all, if there is a silver lining to breast cancer diagnosis I guess this is it.  Now we just need prayers for May 1,  that Jessica’s surgery goes well and there will be no lymph node  involvement for her. 

Back to looking for inspiration thoughts. Todays is:

“The best way out, is always through.”

 We will get through this!

Thursday April 24

Some days are going to be like this. No finish line in sight but the course is getting more clear.

 

Here we go again

 Blogging was a great way for me to write my feelings onto paper and at the same time keep friends and family informed when our life was in turmoil. Then life went on and blogging became somewhat less of a pastime for me. Social media became the way to share the good times and keep in touch with friends. 

Now I have to share something with friends and family that I do not wish to share with the world of social media either by way of Facebook or Instagram. And the blog may be up and running for a time again.

The year 2025 started out great. We made our annual voyage to Florida in late January to spend the month of February in the Florida Keys. Visiting with friends, playing some golf and generally enjoying the sunshine that seems so absent in Ohio in February. We headed North from the Keys in March to spend a week in Fort Lauderdale with Jessica and Marco and Sophia after their first trip to Disneyworld. From there we headed to Myrtle Beach where Steve completed his last contract negotiations for OI. It was April 1, and we returned to home sweet home Perrysburg, after being gone for almost 10 weeks. The next days were filled with haircuts, dentist appointments, and doctor appointments. I had my annual mammogram on April 4, and that evening Jessica called from Boston and told us she had the results of a breast biopsy she had and she has breast cancer. Of course as parents we tried to comfort her and reassure her that we would be there for her with whatever she would need. On April 9, she and Marco meet with her Boston team and put her attack plan into motion. She is scheduled for a lumpectomy on May 1 and they will determine follow up care after the surgery which will include lymph nodes. Again Steve and I assure her that we will be there for her even as that same day I receive results that my mammogram had questionable concerns and I needed to schedule a diagnostic mammogram. The diagnostic mammogram was scheduled for April 11 and afterward I was told a biopsy was necessary because of highly questionable areas of calcifications. The biopsy was scheduled for Monday April 14. How can it be cancer. I have to be there for my daughter. It couldn’t happen… too much of a coincidence. But on Thursday April 17 the results came in that I too had breast cancer. The hardest phone call to make is to Jessica.  This is not any kind of bonding experience that mothers and daughters should ever have to make. But the facts are we will both be making attack plans now. My plans have not been determined yet as we have doctor appointments this week and will have more details on surgeries then. We are going to Boston April 30, and will stay until May 7. Jessica will have to have a course of radiation probably starting 4-6 weeks after the surgery. We may have to count on her local supports through the radiation treatments depending on my status at that time. Fortunately her friends have all said they will be there for her. 

While I was telling Jessica it is early detection, survival rates are 98%, you will be getting the best care for the rest of your life you, will be fine I suddenly understood… all those things may be true but we have breast cancer! The fight now is to get through it. Where is the finish line?