Pretty in Pink

Pretty in Pink

Posted by: , October 23, 2009 in 12:27 pm

Hello Readers!  Hello?  Helloooooooooooo?  Drat.  I was afraid this might have happened.  You all jumped ship, didn’t you?  Well, for the two or three of you (my relatives) who still stop in to read Musings of a Disobedient Mom, thank you!  I really do have a legitimate reason for my gross lapse in posts.  In fact, I could even provide you all with a real, illegible doctor’s excuse if you’d like… You see, I was diagnosed with breast cancer on August 17th.  Shocking, right?  Yea…you could have knocked me over with a feather.  Let me briefly explain (and when I say briefly, I mean…thousands of words).

I discovered a lump in my breast a few months ago.  It was more noticable during the glorious time known as PMS, and honestly I didn’t think much of it (HINT:  If you find a lump.  Think much of it!).  Finally, after enjoying a day at my mother’s swimming pool I asked her to feel it–Michael had been feeling it for a few months already but we decided to seek a parental opinion.  She suggested I make an appointment with my so-called “Breast Man.”  What’s that?  You don’t have a “Breast Man?”  Well, you see dear readers…I had another lump in my right breast (back in 2003).  It was benign, but the experience earned me my very own breast surgeon.

So, I called ye olde breast clinic and they got me in first thing in the morning the next day (a Monday).  After my examination I ended up having a mammogram (nothing new to me…and ladies, they don’t hurt, that is a myth).  After the mammogram I went in for an ultrasound and then, a biopsy.  Oh, the joy!

Tuesday evening I received the call that pretty much has changed my life forever:  “You do have a tumor,” were the words I heard.  And despite being a well-educated person I didn’t quite grasp what my doctor was telling me until he began explaining I will be assigned an oncologist.  HEY!  WAIT!  Oncologist.  Don’t they work with people who have cancer?!?!?!?!  Well, after much weeping, much irrational fear and much overall horror…I underwent many tests that ruled out any spread of the cancer outside of breasts–the tests, a CT scan, an MRI and a full-body bone scan were extremely thorough.  Oh, and I’d love to give a shout out to the technician who let me listen to Green Day throughout my MRI!

For those of you who are interested (and in the interest of it being National Breast Cancer Awareness Month), I have been diagnosed with a Stage 2, ER/PR+, invasive ductal carcinoma (with evidence of non-invasive cells as well).  This is highly curable–literally, the cure rate on this is 95% and with my bi-lateral mastectomy (yes…I voted to rid myself of this glorious 34 A rack o’ mine)…the cure rate is closer to 100%.  Psst…I don’t intend to die, so I’ll be 100%!

Since I don’t want to eat up all the space on honestbaby.com’s server, I’ll direct anyone who would like to know about the details from diagnosis to present to my blog (it’s a homeschooling blog–we’re eclectic, secular homeschoolers so do not be afraid!).

Now that I’m in the full swing of things and I have a better idea what my chemo treatments are going to be like, I’ll try to post at least once a month.  honestbaby has been a joy to work with–and so, so patient with me during this battle.  Plus, I’d love to represent the positive in a story like this one.  I read so much negative and I’d like other women (especially mamas) to know there is hope–crazy mad hope!  This is just a blip on my radar.

Oh, and…FYI the photo of me in my profile is a bit outdated, ’cause now I’m rocking the circa 1970s Rhoda scarves…

And, I have a nifty new port inserted into my chest.  Yep!  It saves wear and tear on my veins.  Visit my personal blog to see the poison, er…I mean, chemotherapy, going directly into my heart.  Good times!

Oh, and…

Thank you everyone at honestbaby…you have been so sweet & patient during this ordeal.  I couldn’t write for a greater bunch of people.  I hope to keep my keyboard active.