Lets Start at the Beginning

I'm going back a few years with this one as background. Just after Casen was born, I discovered a lump in my left breast. I was nursing at the time and I assumed it was related to that. Nevertheless, I asked Dr. Stewart about it at my 6 week appointment and she suggested having it checked out. I then went for an ultrasound and I was told it was nothing and that it would go away. And it did.

Fast forward three years. Channing is born and I'm again nursing and notice the same lump. Exact same. I assume again that it's whatever it was last time around.. clogged milk duct maybe? Anyways, it had been there about 45 days and I finally decided to have it looked at. So back to Dr. Stewart and then back to have another ultrasound. This time however I went to the Pacific Breast Center in Lake Oswego (versus Epic in Beaverton). And I was lucky enough to see Dr. Eklund. He did an ultrasound and said it was a cyst and that it would go away. BUT - to be sure he suggested doing a mammogram. Following, he came back in and said it was NOT a cyst. He explained that it was a cluster of calcifications and that there were calcifications all over in fact but in smaller groups so I wasn't able to feel those.

The next day (Thursday), I was in for a biopsy. He biopsied the cluster/lump and also did a 'blind' biopsy in another area. Then we waited.. On Monday, July 19 I went in to get my results. Scott came with me and we were told that there were malignant cells in both areas and we needed to see a surgeon. He explained that it was Ductal Carcinoma in Situ which is a 0 grade cancer (the good news). It was high grade however which isn't the best, but still caught very early. We left and later got a call from Dr. Eklund referring me to Dr. Nathalie Johnson - a breast surgeon. We had an appt scheduled for Friday. So again, we were waiting. During that week I had multiple conversations with Dr. Stewart who walked me through the details of DCIS and said we were very lucky that so far, there was no invasive or microinvasive cells. A day later, we got more bad news. Once the full pathology was back, there were microinvasive cells detected in the main lump (not in the blind biopsy area). Either way, from my reading and talking to Dr. Stewart I was prepared to hear that I would need a bi-lateral mastectomy.

On Friday, we met with Dr. Johnson and her great staff. It seemed like a bit of a whirlwind but they were great. I was told that I was hormone receptor negative (another bad result) which means that in addition to a bi-lateral mastectomy I have a 90% chance of needing chemotherapy. Sigh. I wasn't prepared for that news. If needed, I will likely get 8 treatments over 4 months that would start 2-4 weeks following surgery. I've got my fingers crossed for that 10% but I'm being realistic and trying to mentally prepare (if that's possible).

We left Dr. Johnson's office and went over to St. Vs for a couple additional tests - blood work, a chest xray, etc. I was referred to Dr. Popowich, a plastic surgeon for reconstruction and also referred to a genetic counselor to test for the BRCA gene in addition to many other things I imagine. At this point, I won't see an oncologist until they get the surgical pathology and determine the amount of microinvastive cells found.

Yesterday, Tuesday July 27 I met with Dr. Popowich. He'll be operating with Dr. Johnson and will be handling reconstruction. Sounds like we may be able to do everything in one surgery versus two. We won't know until they start working. He also was very comforting about the recovery and I'm hopeful it won't be too bad.

The surgery is scheduled for Friday, August 13 at 1:30pm at St. Vincents. I've got more appointments ahead of me and I'll do my best to keep this updated with the details.

Oh, I should mention that this cancer is treatable, curable and survivable. I will be FINE. While hearing you have cancer is not fun, I'm incredibly grateful that it was caught early and that my fight will be a fairly easy one. Many people face much worse news and I didn't. I feel so lucky. I'm also surrounded by amazing people. The outpouring of support is simply incredible. Thank YOU all for making me feel so loved and special at this very crazy time.

I'll end with a joke I read recently about how you might consider telling your friends and family you have cancer. I wish I would have gone with this approach!

Knock, Knock.
Who's there?
I have cancer