The Anchor 💗⚓️💗 – Edition 5

March 30, 2017

Dear Friends & Family,

I’ve been recovering for about 1 week, after a successful surgery. I had my first doctor’s appointment yesterday.  During surgery, the doctors tested a “suspicious” lymph node (that they originally identified during my mammogram), which they confirmed was cancerous. They only tested the suspicious node during surgery, and over the next 7 days, ran pathology on the other lymph nodes that were removed during surgery. The result was 2 out of the 29 lymph nodes that were removed contained cancer. 

 The pathology was also run on the removed breast tissue, and the doctors found 2 small invasive tumors (~1 cm each). The tumors in the breast can best be described as “ground zero”, before getting into the 2 lymph nodes. Having this confirmation is a huge relief, because going into surgery the doctors were not able to see invasive cancer in the breast, therefore they weren’t able to explain how it could have gotten into the “suspicious” lymph node.

 For all intents and purposes, the doctors believe they have gotten all of the cancer removed from my breast and lymph nodes.  🙂  As an added precaution, my Oncologist is recommending I go through chemotherapy, starting April 14th, which will last between 20-24 weeks. The purpose of going through chemotherapy at this point will be to rid the body of any cancer that is undetectable, throughout the body.

 It is also possible I’ll need to do radiation (after chemo), but my radiologist may not think it’s necessary. I will know over the next couple of weeks for sure.

I started experiencing a sharp pain yesterday that comes and goes, so hopefully I will get it under control, other than that, I have just been taking it easy.  It is amazing what things you take for granted until you need help doing them, ha ha.  

Thank you for all of the emails, texts, calls, cards, advice, flowers, edible arrangements, meals, and various gifts that I have received the weeks prior to surgery and am still receiving.  My house looks like a shrine with “my cards” placed throughout the house. 

I have been thinking about everybody daily and hope that all is going well.

Anchored in HOPE,

JW