Pathology Report

Scott again.......wanted to share some good news. Dr S called this evening and informed Julie that they were able to remove 35 lymph nodes from the right side and only ONE was cancerous! The one that was biopsied during the surgery. Good thing they found that one. It actually didn't register on the device used to measure for tracers injected prior to surgery (to find sentinel nodes). Dr S just thought it felt unusual and slightly large so he removed it. We knew he was good and this is big-time evidence.
Her mass on the right that we knew was cancerous was sized at 3cm, which is smaller than the 5cm Dr S and Dr C thought it was from individual breast exams prior to surgery, so that is good too. They did find other areas in the right side that were cancerous and on the left side in all four quadrant of the breast. They were all very small and still within the ducts though. Again, confirming that we did the right thing in removing both breasts. The official stage of her disease is II-B. All things considered, this is good. Thank you, God.
Now back to the recovery..........

Home from the surgery

This is Scott, finally updating the blog. Sorry about the delay but it has been a challenging few days. Our Julie is a real trooper. The surgery was thursday and she was in the OR for 9.5 hours and in PACU for another 2.5 hours. Didn't make it to her room until 10:30 thursday night. The next three days were just trying to get a handle on the pain. She said that she never imagined the extent of the pain she would need to endure and at one time she wished she would of chosen to not do the reconstruction. She said some other things too that I know she would never want repeated.  It was difficult to see someone you love so much be in such relentless pain. I'm very glad that her friend Heidi was there with us through the whole thing. She is a physical therapist with some nursing background and she did way more for Julie than many of the nurses. It's amazing the varying level of service you get. You can really tell the people that are passionate about what they do and the one's that just go through the motions. Good to be home and happy to be through that portion of the journey and I know Julie feels the same.
The surgery went well but they did find cancer in a sentinel lymph node on her right side which required them to do an axillary lymph node dissection. The final pathology will not be known for a few more days and that will ultimately determine the stage of her disease and the treatment plan from here. The left side lymph nodes were fine though, so that is good. More importantly, the source of the disease is all out of her body so that is even better.
We are so thankful to all our family and friends for their prayers and help. We have had to lean on many of you through this initial, challenging phase and we can not thank you enough. We are truly blessed.  

SuperBowl Sunday Yeah!!!

Hello Everyone,  I'm excited about the game today hope your all spending time with family and friends enjoying the day together.  I wanted to let you know I'm having surgery this Thursday 2-9-12 at T.G. going in at 6:30am surgery will start at 10am having what they call a bilateral double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction with breast expanders surgery should last between 7-10 hours so please pray some more for a steady hand for my Dr.S and for God to keep a watchful eye over me.  He has heard all your prayers and is always listening HE IS AMAZING... Thank you everyone for following me through this process I will post again soon  

Love Julie.....

Good News!

The results of all the recent tests have determined that I have no signs of cancer beyond my breasts. What a relief. The staging of my cancer will not be determined until after the surgery when the size of my mass is accurately measured and they test my lymph glads. That will also define the extent of chemo and if radiation will be needed.
Yesterday I met with a different plastic surgeon. I didn't really feel comfortable with Dr. N so, with the help from friends and my awesome Dr. S, I found DR. E. He was more of the perfectionist I am looking for and I really liked him. I'm all set now with my medical team and I'm very happy with each of them. I think I will be in good hands.
I'm glad to be at the point where we will actually get rid of this stuff but I'm scared. I will probably have the surgery the week of Feb 6th. I met with my surgeon (Dr S) on thursday and he described the procedure. The plastic surgeon will be a part of the surgery and will start the reconstruction then. However, it will ultimately take months to complete. I'm still trying to get my mind around the fact that my body will never be the same and the pleasure part of my breasts will be gone forever. I know that living is more important but I will still miss the other.
Thank you for all your prayers. Julie

1-24-12

I finished the last test today, bone scan to evaluate if cancer has spread.  Will find out result's on Thursday when I meet with Dr. C/Oncologist , meet with Radiology Oncologist Dr.R very nice and glad to have her as apart of my treatment team.  Also meet with Dr.N plastic surgeon very nice as well, now playing the waiting game and Praying to our heavenly father that he wraps his arms around me and carry's me through this and guide me to make the right treatment decision's. Julie

Scared tonight...1-23-12

I'm sitting at my desk crying.... thinking about everything going on in my mind.  I'm so overwhelmed with feelings I cant seem to grasp them and put them in the right order???  I wish this was not my life right now. I'm trying so hard to deal with so much the shock of the diagnosis, the x5 Dr. providers involved the nurses,the office staff, the social workers etc.... the appointments I could go on and on.... How did this happen to my beautiful life....???  Please pray for me and see me through this I need some good new's tomorrow and hope that GOD HEARS MY PRAYER.  Julie

Wild Week

It has been a very challenging week. Trying to get to all the appointments through this bizarre weather and trying to get to the point when we are actually doing something to cure me.
It started with the breast MRI on monday that, after having the IV hooked up and put into the machine, the machine broke! Had to reschedule for thursday. On wednesday, we met with the oncologist (Dr C.). Seems like a very good dr and highly recommended by Dr S (surgeon). He told me that I had a slightly elevated tumor marker in my latest blood test so he wants a whole bunch of body scans and mri's to determine if it has spread anywhere else.
On friday, Dr S reviewed my breast mri from thursday and determined that my other breast shows involvement and with the assistance from his nurse, wanted to expedite the other tests. The bad weather was a bit of a blessing in that a lot of people canceled their appointments and I was able to have 3 of the 4 test on friday. The last is scheduled for this tuesday. I hope and pray that I get some good news from these tests.
Tuesday we will also meet with the radiology oncologist and plastic surgeon. I think that will complete my medical team associated with my treatment and the testing necessary to determine my treatment plan. I hope so, I really want to get rid of this disease from my body!
The week has been challenging but I feel I have made progress. I want to send special "thank you's" to my neighbors and friends Rhonda and Karolyn and mother in-law for their help watching Gabby during all the doctor appointments last week and the staff at TRA Medical Imaging in Tacoma (especially Gene and Jim). Dr S' nurse Kara really knows how to make things happen and I'm really thankful for her too.
Now off to cleaning my house......