Breast Cancer, The Journey

Breast Cancer, The Journey

Wednesday Morning March, 16 2011 (First post in this series).

Those that are familiar with our blog know that it was created to document our travels. For the foreseeable future, our travels are on hold and we will change the format of this blog. As you read this blog, the reason for this format change will become obvious.

On Friday (3/11/11), our 42 year old daughter, Kelly, was diagnosed with breast cancer!!! She is healthy, eats properly, exercises regularly, is not overweight, has never smoked, etc. We do not have a family history of cancer.

In late February she had her yearly mammogram. The results suggested that a second mammogram was needed. Both tests revealed a growth that needed to be biopsied. On Thursday (3/10/11) she had the biopsy. The next day we got the bad news.

Before I start the documentation of this journey, I need to discuss something that has been very troubling to me. About a year ago, the medical community suggested new guidelines for scheduling these tests. The preliminary recommendation suggested that women under the age of 50, with no family history of cancer, did not need to schedule a mammogram. That was very troubling to me at the time, as Pat and I have three daughters under the age of 50.

Fortunately, the National Cancer Institute still recommends 40 years as the base age for scheduled mammograms:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/detection/mammograms

I need to say this loud and clear: ladies please schedule your yearly mammograms NOW!!!

Now back to our situation. We are very strong family (three daughters, three wonderful SILs, and eight great grandkids). We will all support Kelly, her husband, and their two precious daughters (5 and 7) as they proceed through this journey.

We are fortunate that Lisa, our oldest daughter, is a clinical dietitian at University Hospital here in Denver and she has arranged for Kelly's case to be reviewed by the well regarded team at the Breast Center.

As I write this today, we really do not have a lot of details on Kelly's condition. Since last Friday, she has had several additional tests and is scheduled for a few more. These include MRIs, another mammogram (post biopsy), ultrasound, etc. The preliminary indication is that the cancer was detected early and we have confidence that her journey will be successful.

Today she is scheduled to see a surgeon that was recommended by her doctor. She will use the recommendation of this surgeon as one of at least two opinions.

I will try to update the story of this journey as time permits. For the new readers, I always recommend that you sign up for the email notification link on this blog. That way you will be notified when I do post.

We have been contacted by a huge number of friends and acquaintances who have been so supportive and kind. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.