Surgery Done

Update better late than never? ;)

Mom's surgery was Wednesday.  Planned was a nice simple little same-day procedure.  But....(isn't there always a but?!)....the hospital called my mom Tuesday evening asking her to come in a little earlier for a repeat EKG as her pre-op one looked different from a previous EKG from August.  So Wednesday she had another one.....that one was cause for even more stress to the surgical team than the Tuesday one! (I chalk it up to stress and anxiety on my poor mom's part.  Who wouldn't have EKG changes when they are going through this?)

So after contacting and faxing her EKG tracings to a cardiologist, they got the clear from him to proceed with surgery, being that she was asymptomatic for what her little pitter-patting heart was doing on EKG, and her surgery was sort-of a needed thing.  She does get to meet with the cardiologist this week though for a face-to-face work-up.  Hooray? But, they also decided that she was staying in the hospital overnight to be on a heart monitor to play it safe.  Cut to the chase, her heart did just peachy during and after surgery, with no problems.

So finally, about an hour late, they took her off to radiology and then surgery.  Her BP was pretty high with all the anxiety of the morning, but came right down when they gave her some happy dreamland juice. :) The procedure went great, with her port placed, tumor removed, and lymph nodes checked with the best news of all, no spread to any nodes!  She does still have to do chemo because of the Her2 result, but with negative nodes, that means chemo doesn't have to be increased, and of course, it increases the odds of a positive outcome with catching this cancer before it has spread anywhere else.

We finally saw her later that afternoon in her room, she was looking good and responding well, but tired. I stayed with her for a while, and checked on her again later that night.  The next morning I came down with hopes of checking her out, but she was still quite VERY sleepy and unsteady.  The surgeon came in and saw her and said she'd check on her in the afternoon....I was glad, there was no way she could go home like that!  So I left her to sleep some more, and when I returned that afternoon, she was much more awake and functional.  I think she was just still trying to get the anesthesia and pain meds out of her system.

The surgeon came in, saw she was doing better, and released her to go home. After a little stop at the pharmacy, I got her home.  I was thinking I would stay that night, but she told me she was fine, and I could see that she was getting around just fine so I felt okay about leaving. In the last 2 days since, she is doing well.  A little sore, but she hasn't even taken pain meds since being home.

Again, thank you all for the prayers and well wishes.

As a little post script, my mom has a significant birthday coming up next Sunday....she's turning 80!  Wowzers!  I can't even believe it!  If anyone would like to send her a card wishing her a happy bday, I know she'd love it. If you are needing her address, email me: 3lilsmudgits at comcast dot net and I can send it to you.  Thanks!

Lesson Learned

You'd think at my age I'd have learned to not assume things until I have all the information.  Apparently not.

Like that statement I made in the previous post about if my mom's lymph nodes were found to be clear in her surgery tomorrow she would only need radiation?  Yeah, I'm choking on those words, unfortunately.

My mom, Beth(who was in town for the long weekend), and I met with the oncologist yesterday.  Once again, very good choice of a doctor, and I know I feel quite confident in his abilities.

He took a thorough history, then started talking about my mom's cancer and the proposed care plan.

That's when we found out the result of the last test we were waiting for on the initial biopsy, which was the Her2/neu test.  It was positive.  Not what we expected.  Her2/neu is another type of hormone that stimulates cell growth, and causes the cancer cells to be more aggressive than if it wasn't present.

Good news is there is a drug called Herceptin that blocks the growth receptors on the cancer cells to prevent the aggressive growth.  Not so good news is that if you are Her2 positive, you automatically get chemotherapy along with Herceptin, whether or not your lymph nodes are positive.

We were surprised at the news.  We had, I suppose, unknowingly planned on not hearing about a need for chemo until after surgery.

Surgery is still planned for tomorrow.  Still planned is a lumpectomy w/sentinel node biopsy, along with a port placement now.  The "port" will give IV access for as long as it is in, and will make blood draws and the chemo infusions much easier.

We do not have a start date for chemotherapy as yet, that will come when we meet with the oncologist again, in about 3 weeks.  We do know that she will have 6 chemo treatments, 3 weeks apart.  The Herceptin will then continue every 3 weeks for a year. She will also take an estrogen blocking drug for the next five years, and sometime after the initial 6 chemo treatments, she will begin radiation.

My mom is remaining positive, although is understandably worried about having to go through chemo.  She can certainly think of a thousand other things she'd rather be doing!

We are remaining hopeful, and leaning on the power of prayer at this time.  As our wonderful family friend Rich proclaims, "Faith, Hope, Deliverance!"

**I will update tomorrow as I can, here on my blog, and on facebook, as to her condition following surgery.  Again, especially tomorrow, your faith and prayers are appreciated.  They are felt, and are bringing a calmness to our family.  Thank you!**

Stupid Statistics

You always hear that statistic: 1 in 8 women will have breast cancer in their lifetime.  I personally think that statistic stinks!  And although I hear that stastistic and thought frequently about it, I still felt disconnected from it, in a way.  Even as women in my neighborhood, mothers in the school my kids attend, or just people you hear about through others were diagnosed.  But it became much more of a slap in the face recently.

Granted, my family has been deeply affected by breast cancer. I am married to a most wonderful man, but would not have that man in my life had his first wife not lost her battle with breast cancer.  I am now raising a daughter whose mother was taken from her by this.

But I didn't witness it, and we don't dwell on it.


Back to that statistic....yes, that number always bothered me.  Think about it.  Eight women in a room, and one of them is going to have breast cancer.  But honestly, I didn't really stress about it, because(even though it is not a guarantee) we have ZERO family history of breast cancer.  Not a grandmother, aunt, great aunt....nada.  Until now.  **Edited to read: Hmmm, found out today I didn't have the zero record I thought I had! A cousin told me our great aunt fought with breast cancer for a few years.  I remember she died when I was a teen, and I am not sure if I didn't know what she died of or if I had forgotten.  So, all you female relatives on my fathers side, we do have a family history.**

My ever vigilant and healthy mother, who has faithfully gotten yearly mammograms for as long as I can remember, got called back for a second look at something that had "changed" since her last.  That 2nd look turned into an ultrasound, and that turned into a needle biopsy.  Four days later she got the call that the biopsy came back showing cancer.

Welcome to the statistic.

She dropped the bomb on me the next day. (Thankfully, I took the news well, until a few hours later when my brain refused to concentrate on anything, but this isn't about me.)

So....since then we've been busy.  We've seen the surgeon (who is quite possibly one of the coolest people I've ever met, and would recommend her to anyone).  We received a copy of the biopsy, and the good news is the tumor is small.  The surgeon was very optimistic that it's been caught early.  It is also the typical type (Invasive ductal) and is hormone positive, which means they can treat that component of it with hormone supression drugs.  My mom has opted on a lumpectomy, which is scheduled for the 19th.  At that point, they will also do a sentinel node biopsy to see if there is any involvement there, and be able to "stage" her cancer.  Also in the plans is radiation. It sounds like chemo will only have to take place if they find positive lymph nodes, but that is just from the conversation with the surgeon.  We haven't met with the oncologist yet, but will this coming Monday.

All manner of prayers for my mom are appreciated. :)  She went back and forth on giving me permission to let people know about this, but finally relented. I'll try and continue to update, depending upon what she gives the okay for, but personally, I'm praying that a lot of updating won't be necessary because we are getting this out of her, and moving on with a smile and grateful hearts. :)



I do know that my mom would like to remind everyone to get their yearly mammograms, since that's how they caught this....she never felt anything.

I'm off to make my appointment.......