Milestones

Most recently, I counted everything by "when Daddy died". Things that occurred before December 11, 2004 .. and things that came after. Sadly, Dave and I got married only three weeks earlier but it was Daddy's death that became the milestone of 2004.

Before that, it was "the day I got fired". I'd never been let go from any job and, in fact, every employer I ever had always said I could come back if my new job didn't work out. I was proud of that record. So "the day I got fired" in July of 1993 was pretty monumental. (Turns out it was the best thing that could have happened to me!)

I guess we all have milestones in our life: graduations, marriages, births, divorces, the new house .. but now I have another. The day I got cancer. That was November 18, 2010. Of course I had cancer long before that, maybe as long as ten years, but that was the day it became a fact.

Next week, I'll have another: the day I started chemo. It's the beginning of the end for Herschel. Long may he die. Here's what we learned yesterday at the oncologist visit with Dr. M:

Blood work: indicates some liver disfunction. She'll retest and watch. Everything else looked good.

Biopsies of left lymph nodes & right breast mass: Right breast mass is benign. Lymph nodes at first pass are malignant but final pathology report wasn't in. There is an enlarged lymph node in my chest (centrally located) but it's not large enough to biopsy, so it's a watch. Chemo should handle this, if not, we're looking at something other than cancer that's causing it.

Chest X-ray (lungs): was clear.

Echocardiograph (heart health): was clear.

Bone Scan: Clear.

CT Scan: Indicates cysts in my liver, kidneys, thyroid and tiny, tiny spots in my lungs. Doc says no cancer but she'll watch the spots in my lungs. After round one (12 weeks) of chemo, if they don't clear, we'll investigate further.

Herschel is a Stage II (at present, likely to be upgraded to III with final pathology report), Grade 2, ER responsive breast cancer. He tested negative for HER-2 which would have complicated things nicely, so we're happy about that.

I start chemo on Wednesday, Jan. 5, which just happens to be another milestone: Jared's 28th birthday. We'll go weekly for twelve weeks, followed by CT scan and then round two begins immediately for twelve weeks, once every three weeks. At the end of chemo if it's done its job, I'll have surgery to remove the cancer either via lumpectomy or mastectomy depending on the best prognosis for me. Then, the plan is a follow up with radiation. I'm thinking by the end of 2011, I will be cancer free.

And that will be another milestone!

So always remember and never forget: FEEL YOUR BOOBIES!