Keeping you abreast, Vol. 1

My original e-mail from May, 2005:

Keeping you abreast

Pardon the pun, but I just felt like starting this off lightheartedly!

I'm sending this e-mail to give everyone an update on my recent medical saga. If I haven't talked to you in a while and you are just finding out via this e-mail that I have breast cancer, I am really sorry to do it this way. But it's just not something you want to call someone up and say, "Hey, guess what ... "

So here are the details: Found a lump in my right breast at beginning of March. Mammogram showed suspicious lesions in large area in the same breast. (The lump itself, however, turned out to be benign, a little gift from God to spur me to get a mammogram and find this nasty stuff before it got really bad). Biopsy the next week showed large area of DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ), which is basically what they call Stage 0 cancer. No chance it has spread beyond the ducts. If you have to have breast cancer, this is the one to have. Am told that minimal size of breast (stop laughing!) and large amount of cancer call for mastectomy. Opt to have bilateral mastectomy (two for the price of one!) on April 25. Recover well, thinking this is basically over except for reconstruction, and play tennis four weeks later.

Surprise! Pathology report from mastectomy shows several small spots of invasive cancer (infiltrating ductal carcinoma), which is Stage II, much more likely to have spread. (What a smart cancer I have; it skipped a whole stage!) So go back for more surgery on June 6 to have lymph nodes removed and tested for possible spread of cancer. Still recovering from that one. Two of 16 lymph nodes test positive for cancer cells. This is not good news but it could be much worse.

Went to oncologist today to map out treatment plan. Done so much research on the Internet that I know pretty much what to expect. Will have full-body scan next week and start first round of chemo (Adriamycin/Cytoxan) on June 30. I will have four infusions of this, each one three weeks apart. Second round is a chemo drug called Taxol, once a week for 12  weeks. Along with this I will be receiving a drug (Herceptin) that has had very good results with the particular type of cancer I have (her-2/neu positive). When the 12 weeks is up, I will stay on Herceptin for another nine months. Then after that, five years of hormone therapy. I really think that once I get past the first round of chemo, it will be smooth sailing. And even for that first round, I have high hopes that it won't be that bad.

The oncologist seemed extremely optimistic that I would respond well to this and almost certain that with just two positive lymph nodes, there was no real need to worry about the cancer having formed something harmful somewhere else in my body. The chemo and all the drug therapy is just to do everything possible to seek out and either kill (chemo) or disable (Herceptin and hormone therapy) any microscopic cancer cells that might be hiding out somewhere. So I am feeling pretty good about being able to eventually put this all behind me and not think about it anymore.

Thanks to you -- my wonderful family and friends -- for all the love, support and prayers. One of the blessings of cancer for me has been being reminded of just how many generous, caring people I am lucky enough to have in my life. I know if I needed anything, there are dozens of people who would drop anything to help me out. How lucky am I?

Pray for us and for all families going through something like this. Pray that they can all put their trust in God and let Him bear the burden. He's doing it for me.

Love,
Michelle