As Shauntel (co-worker and dear friend) mentioned in the first post, this blog is to keep you all informed and updated through our journey of kicking the Cancers butt! Some have asked and others are afraid to so I thought I would give you the history of how it was discovered and the days leading up to all the milestones. Please forgive the log entry; it is very detailed as this blog also acts as a journal for me.
It all started on Feb 14th, I was enjoying a movie we gave to Addi for Valentine’s Day. As we were sitting on the floor together she fell back and her head it my right breast. I was 28 weeks pregnant, breast are very tender at that stage in pregnancy. I grabbed it as a natural reaction to the pain and that’s when it all started – I felt the lump about 3 inches above the nipple. As I gave myself a breast exam I thought it was a clogged milk duct. That night I slept with a heating pad on my chest and tried to express milk from the duct – nothing came out.
I was very fortunate to have my 28 week OB/GYN appointment with Dr. Rasmussen, who was filling in for my OB, Lisa Gravell who was out on maternity leave. Justin had attended every doctor appointment with except this one. Dr. Rasmussen was running behind and Justin had a meeting for work that he couldn’t miss so he left 10 minutes before I met with the doctor. Dr. Rasmussen is a great doctor in his early/mid 70’s. He has a lot of experience and made me smile by telling me that my body didn’t look like I had carried a baby before. He told me that I needed to thank my mother for good genetics since I did not have a stretch mark on my body! He also informed me I was the ideal pregnant lady by being very fit and healthy…always things a woman likes to hear. Dr. Rasmussen was heading out of the room when I said to him, “I feel dumb asking because I know you are running behind for other patients but I just discovered a lump in my breast and believe it is a clogged duct but would you mind checking”. He,of course didn’t mind and did a breast exam. He said it feels like a cyst, but we should get an ultrasound. Once he left the room, I took a moment and thought to myself, it couldn’t be cancer, no way – everything will be okay. But, I also thought what if it is cancer. What would I do? I have to admit, I was shaking when they made the appointment for me and was a little scared. I am not an emotional person but I did call Justin crying and couldn’t think too clearly as I drove to work.
A week later on February 21st, Justin and I went the Breast Care Center at Intermountain Medical Center (IMC) for the ultrasound. I was a little nervous as I entered the clinic but was confident it would be a benign cyst or clogged duct. But as I sat in the women’s waiting room with only a gown to cover the top half of my body, my nerves started to feel anxious. I was the youngest women (age 27) in the room while all of the other women were in their 50’s – 60’s. There were 3 ladies; one who had been diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago, she talked about how these appointments made her nervous and how the radiation fried her – she didn’t have a positive experience with her cancer or Doctors. Another lady who was getting a diagnosis of her mammogram and the third lady was getting a mammogram again because they fold a lump but needed to take another scan to ensure it wasn’t an error with the scan. They all talked about how medicine had come so far from the last 10 years but were shocked it hadn’t advanced further. The longer I sat in the chair next to them my anxiety level grew. It was a relief when the nurse called my name. Since they wouldn’t let Justin sit with me in the women’s waiting room, I asked if he could join us for the ultrasound. They said he could join when the Doctor came in to review the scans and talk to us. During the ultrasound I was calm, the technician didn’t give me any indication that I needed to worry – the process took about 5-10 minutes. The technician brought Justin in the room along with the Doctor. After reviewing the scans the Doctor informed us that the lump was not cyst due to the shape and size. He also proceeded to tell us that he recommends a biopsy but not to be alarmed as a woman of my age the percentage for cancer is extremely low, especially since only my grandmother had breast cancer and not my mother. It wasn’t the best news to hear but Justin and I listened and thought, it will come back benign or something we just need to get cut out but it wouldn’t be cancer. The Breast Care Center was great and able to get us in the next day for the biopsy. It was a little difficult to sleep that night but we managed.
The next day, February 22nd, Justin and I went back to the Breast Care Center for the biopsy. I was nervous for the procedure but knew it would be ok. As they begun to prep me for the biopsy, the technician (different from the day before) looked at my scans of the lump and instead of asking me where it was located decided to search for it on her own. As she put the ultrasound wand on my right breast she came across another lump. This lump was located on the right side of nipple by 2-3 inches. It was a rectangle shape; the appearance looked very similar to the other lump. The technician asked me where the lump I discovered was located. I showed her and she scanned it again. At that time I knew something wasn’t right and asked if she just discovered another lump. She said, I have found something that I need to mention to the Doctor but she will need to speak with you about it. She then said, I will get Dr. Green so we can begin the biopsy and for her to review the other scan. They wouldn’t let Justin in the room so I was lying on the table, in the dark room, breasts exposed, all by myself. Hated that moment because I knew two lumps were not a good sign. I didn’t want to hear the news by myself and really wanted Justin in the room with me. I tried to have positive thoughts but I so badly needed Justin by my side to tell me it would be OK. It felt like an eternity for the Doctor to come in to the room but once she did she reviewed the scans and asked me to tell her how I found the first lump. She informed me they found another lump and had me feel it – it felt very large and looked big on the ultrasound screen. Dr. Green asked if she could do a biopsy on both lumps since I was there already - I of course said yes. The biopsy wasn’t the most pleasant experience but it was cool to watch as the needle went in to my breast and pulled cells from the lumps. They removed 3 cell samples from the first lump and then 8 cell samples from the other. By the time they were finished, my breast was throbbing. Then they had to put pressure on the lumps for 10 minutes to reduce the amount of internal bleeding and swelling. At that time I wanted to scream but I just bit my tongue and thought be strong, you’re alright, it’s almost over. They showed me the cell samples; they looked like strings of clear fish poop and blood. It was yucky but cool to see. When the biopsy started the technician informed me they would have the results back by Monday, Feb 27th – it usually takes 2-3 days for the lab to process but since the past Monday was President’s Day the lab was behind so don’t expect them sooner. Upon leaving the room Dr. Green said to me, now I like to prepare my patients for the worst but hope for the best. If the results come back positive I would recommend for you to make an appointment with a surgeon and because there are two lumps, we need a mammogram done to ensure there are not any other lumps we are missing. At that time I just wanted to cry because I knew in my heart that I would need some type of procedure and knew the Doctor wouldn’t say that to any patient unless she saw something that she thought wasn’t good. Dr. Green asked me to meet with the care specialist to schedule an appointment with the surgeon as well as the mammogram. As I began to get dressed I thought of how I could tell Justin, I knew I couldn’t sugar coat it but I needed to be strong as I didn’t want to let our minds run wild. When I walked out Justin asked if I was in pain and if I was ready to go. I told him they found another lump and described all the details – he was shocked. As we met with the care specialist to schedule the appointments, I began to cry because she said we would have the results back by Friday afternoon – the Doctor had asked for the results to be rushed. I knew they didn’t rush all results and there must have been something the Doctor noticed. As we left the clinic, Justin and I were stunned, didn’t know what to say or do. We hadn’t eaten lunch so we grabbed a bite to eat and talked whether or not we wanted to tell our families yet. We decided not to as we were already freaked out and we didn’t want to put additional stress on them if we didn’t have to, so we decided to wait until we got the results.
Friday, February 24th was a long but short morning; I scheduled my day as if nothing were happening and as if we were going to receive positive results. I went to lunch with my girlfriends; Shauntel, Misty and Traci, not expecting to get the call with the results until after 2pm. While at lunch I received the call, I was away from Justin and didn’t want to hear the results without him so I asked the care specialist if I could call her back once I was with my husband. She said I could call her back at 1pm and she would arrange for the Doctor to be there with her. That alarmed me more but I still made myself think positive. We left the restaurant immediately, I called Justin to tell him I was on my way back to the office and we would speak to them at 1pm. We were both very nervous and decided to take the call in his boss’s (Frankie’s) office. Before calling the Doctor we said a prayer for strength and guidance regardless of the outcome. The first words out of Dr. Green’s mouth were, I don’t have good news, and the lumps are cancerous. She told us the breast cancer is invasive carcinoma high grade duct. I was so grateful Justin was there with me not only to hug me and hold my hand but to ask the Doctor questions. I was sobbing hysterically and couldn’t think straight. All that was going through my mind was how are we going to tell Addi and our families and how would this impact Carter (our baby boy). Dr. Green was very compassionate and answered all of the questions we could think of at that time. She also informed us she had moved up the meeting for us with the surgeon and had already spoken with her – Dr. Regina Rosenthal. Upon getting off the phone, Justin and I held each other and just cried. We told each other as long as we have each other and we are in this together we will have a positive outcome! It wouldn’t be easy but it would be worth it. The day was so exhausting and overwhelming that as soon as we got home that night, I crashed hard but then woke up early from not being able to sleep.
The next few weeks, we met with several Doctors – surgeons, plastic surgeons, oncologists, radiologists, OB/GYN, maternal fetal medicine (high risk pregnancy). It seemed like every appointment that we had tripled or quadrupled – they never stopped. It was never ending Doctor appointments, they were exhausting. I felt like I went from being healthy, only going to the Doctor when I had a cold and for my yearly physical to being the sickest person on the planet. We decided on the following Doctors:
· Surgeon – Regina Rosenthal
· Plastic Surgeon – June Chen
· Oncologist – Jason Stinnett
· OB/GYN – Kent Rasmussen & Lisa Gravell
After several appointments and finding out I am triple positive (ER – Estrogen receptor, PR – Progesterone and HER2 - which is an aggressive cancer and thrives off hormones) we supported the Doctors decision to proceed with the following treatment plan:
On March 28th, I would have a mastectomy of only the right breast (less time on the operating table since I am pregnant) with first phase of reconstruction (tissue expander). A few weeks after surgery, on April 18th I would be enduced to deliver Carter. Two weeks after I gave birth I would start my chemo treatments of TCH (Taxotere, Carboplatin, and Herceptin), which would be administered once every 3 weeks beginning on May 8th, 6 times. If all goes well, I should be finished with the Taxotere and Caroplatin medicine by the end of September, but I will continue to receive the Herceptin every 3 weeks for a year. Following the Herceptin, I will have to take an oral antibiotic for 5 years that blocks hormones.
We have conquered the first milestone and are doing well. We are ecstatic for the next milestone; we have less than 24 hours before we get to welcome our baby boy, Carter, in to world!!!
Shauntel, Justin or I will update you all on the delivery and post pictures of Carter. Love you all and greatly appreciate all of your love, support and prayers.
