Tuesday, February 16, 2010: Dr. Weed called me this evening when she got back into town. It was no surprise to hear that the biopsy confirmed the diagnosis, but I guess deep down inside I was hoping to hear that I was one of those odd 5% with an ugly, cancerous looking, yet surprisingly benign tumor. No such luck! But, the biopsy reports were good overall. The tumor wasn't overly large - less than 2 cm. And it was termed ER-positive and HER2 positive, which are both good, cause these types of tumors tend to be really responsive to chemo treatment. Of course, I must admit, hearing things like mastectomy and chemo made me want to puke!
So, with a definitive diagnosis with some details, I called all 5 of my kids, as well as my parents to give them the news. Definitely a strange kind of phone call to make. My kids were all pretty shocked, but then so was I. Breast cancer just does not run in my family, so it isn't anything I've ever given a lot of thought or worry to. Like I told my daughter Tasha - I guess there's some in the family now, so she'll want to be a little more vigilant with self checks and regular mammograms than she might have been before. Coincidentally, Tasha has been taking 2 classes this semester, Physiology & Physics so she can apply to Radiation Therapy schools where she will be treating cancer patients. She did some volunteering in the hospital there in Logan, and got to see some cancer patients get their treatments. Now it's a little more close to home for her. Calling my mom was hard, because she and my dear sweet dad had only gotten back home from Portland a month or so before where Dad was being treated with his 4th bout with cancer. Needless to say, Mom was not at all happy to hear my bad news. This cancer stuff is no fun!
Wednesday, February 16, 2010: I spent most of the day at the college, like usual, then went to another late afternoon visit with Dr. Weed. She went over my biopsy results, and then told me I needed to make the decisions as to where I wanted to have my surgery, chemo, etc. done so appointments could be made. I had absolutely no clue where I wanted to go for anything. I had already talked to a friend and associate Laurie Henneman about her breast cancer experience a few years ago, with surgery in Seattle, and chemo in Helena. With no connections in those areas, I was thinking I would prefer Salt Lake for surgery, since I have lots of family in that area, and I had no clue for chemo. I think I just sat there like a bump on a log. I told Dr. Weed I'd think about it, because I just didn't know what to do, and I didn't even know how to go about making any decisions.
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