Less is more, well, better, anyway

I met with Dr. Hartung on this very snowy & wintry morning. Turns out I actually "squeaked" into the criteria for Stage 1 rather than Stage 2A as previously determined. This was because there was no remaining residual disease in the re-excision pathology report. We also reached a decision on the course of chemotherapy (pending insurance approval). It will be just two of the chemotherapy drugs (just like one side of the clinical trial, but not as part of the clinical trial), with a treatment every 3 weeks for 6 cycles. I'm scheduled for the chemotherapy class this Wednesday afternoon, with my first treatment to be Thursday. My last treatment will be July 17th if all goes as planned. There are several other drugs that will be part of this overall plan, including steroids and Neulasta (for white blood cells counts). She said to beware of the steroids, they may keep me awake & I'll be up cleaning the house all night. Yikes! Anyway, it's good to have a "plan" and start moving forward. There will still be radiation following the chemo. Either once a day for about 6 weeks or twice a day for about 3 weeks - TBD.

I'm also planning to look into some additional natural health care to help with healing & side effect minimization and emotional & psychological health. They offer quite a few through Woodwinds. I've also had several other "connections" which I have yet to check out. This learning curve is enormous & the days are flying by!

This afternoon, I had a call from a sweet local lady that is part of an organization called Chrysalides (sent by my good friend, Coreen). She then stopped by with a little gift bag for me - full of 9 (!) hand-sewn cancer hats - the soft knit fabric kind. And a tiny fuzzy white pillow just for hugging when I need to. She said they've found that the child in us comes out during times like these. The pillow has a little tag that reads: Know that you are not alone What an encouragement!

One last thing...if you are looking for an easy & delicious salad - this is my latest - a bag of baby Romaine topped with lots of fresh sliced strawberries and then sprinkled with Trader Joe's raspberry dressing. I think I'll add some toasted nuts next time for protein. Healthy eating doesn't have to be painful - I'm planning to eat healthier pretty much from now on, so making it tasty is essential.

Please keep the prayers coming....I think this may be the bumpiest part of the road coming up. We so appreciate your thoughts & prayers! Take care & take time to stop & smell the roses.

Negative is Positve

Yes, there is a new vocabulary, in which "negative" is positive. I met with Dr. Koeplin this morning and had all good news. There are no more positive margins. So, the surgery part of the treatment is complete, and we move on to the systemic portion, chemotherapy. I'm scheduled to meet with Dr. Hartung on Monday morning and we'll make some decision regarding standard treatment vs clinical trial, etc. It's likely I'll have the chemotherapy class on Tuesday afternoon and possibly start treatments as early as next week. All to be determined.


I'll meet back with Dr. Koeplin after chemo and radiation are done. I asked about future "screenings" since the cancer was not detected at all on a mammogram, even when we knew where the lump was. It may need to be an MRI in the future. Again, all to be determined.

Jenny and I had a good day on Tuesday at "A Fitting Place" in Hastings and I did purchase a wig (thank you to my work group for the VISA gift card!). The proprietor was excellent and explained what to expect, etc. She will remove the "chemo" hair when it starts to fall out and then do any additional styling to the wig. The sad part (okay, one of several) is that the wig is actually cuter than my own hair! I would recommend this place to anyone experiencing medical hair loss that would like personal and sensitive assistance.

It looks like a beautiful sunny day to sit outside and absorb some Vitamin D - which I have learned is very essential in preventing cancer. Just need to leave off the sunscreen for 15 minutes or so. Also, as a little nutrition tip, it's a good idea to eat a Brazil nut daily - you know, those big ones left in the bottom of the can of mixed nuts - they contain selenium which is an important nutrient. Oh, and of course, garlic is right up there as a top cancer preventing agent.

Exercise is very important as well, so I suppose I should go walk a mile or two this afternoon. I did the 3-mile walk video yesterday, with limited weights, but haven't found time yet today.

Today has been a good day, but I've had a few less good ones this week. I'm sure I should continue to expect some amount of roller coaster ride on this journey. I do always have an underlying hope, no matter the circumstances. This is from my faith in God and because of the constant support and prayers of so many of you. Thank you for continuing on with me and my family!

I hope everyone has a great and peaceful weekend. Our kids are on Spring Break next week, so they are looking forward to no school for awhile. :O)

Breast Cancer 3 Day 60 mile Twin Cities Walk

I recently found out that our friend and family child care provider, Christine Heist, is going to be participating in the Twin Cities 3 Day 60 mile walk to support Breast Cancer Research in September. As many of you know, this is a huge undertaking, requiring a lot of physical training and fundraising. I am attaching the link here to her Personal Page if anyone is interested in supporting her in this very worthy cause. Go Chris! The ultimate goal of all this research is a world without breast cancer! I would be all for that!

http://08.the3day.org/site/TR/Walk/TwinCitiesEvent?px=1792545&pg=personal&fr_id=1191&et=6_C3VxmqrPigF7-trTnY9w..&s_tafId=6351

No word yet on the pathology report.....time to go take a rest....

In and Out...

It's Good Friday, and the 2nd day of Spring (although you wouldn't know it looking out the window). My family is all looking forward to celebrating the Resurrection of Christ this Sunday! And, I think I'll feel well enough to participate.

My surgery was at 7:00 yesterday morning, and I was home by 9:30. Dr. Koeplin said the surgery went well and that we should have the pathology report by Monday. He said not to be surprised if they don't find any cancer - that doesn't mean it was missed, it would mean the "positive margin" was such a small area. I am also scheduled with him for a follow-up next Friday, and then with Dr. Hartung on Monday the 31st. It sounds like I might have my chemotherapy class that next day (April Fool's Day). So, the ball will continue to roll.

I am scheduled to visit "A Fitting Place" in Hastings on Tuesday for a hair replacement (?) consultation. I may try other places as well, depending on the outcome of this visit. Many new experiences.

I rested all day yesterday and was looking very pale. I really didn't take any pain meds, but just controlled the pain with cold packs. I did manage to read a book and listen to lots of healing music CDs my sister brought over. My sister and mom cooked up some recipes to eat and/or freeze. Right now there is a big crock pot of Cindy's spaghetti sauce simmering.....does it ever smell wonderful! It's nice to be cozy inside while the snow is flying outside. I'm feeling quite a bit better and stronger today, but obviously still need to take it slow.

Interesting Surgical Note: A surgeon is required to mark the "spot" where the surgery is to be performed with a permanent marker on your body (his/her initials) prior to surgery. He said if you ever see one coming with a ballpoint pen, direct them to a sharpie! This is a good thing, as I'm guessing it was implemented to avoid those unfortunate accidents of removing the wrong thing.

Once again, thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers for our family. I don't know how people go through things like this without a "support" group and a faith in God. He is walking along beside me every step of the way, as I get better every day!

I wish you all a very blessed and happy Easter!

Moving toward better health...

Thank goodness for the Internet - it certainly saves a lot of effort when one becomes a full-time researcher. On this snowy St. Patrick's Day I spent virtually all day researching nutrition, wigs, and clinical trials, plus sending and responding to a few emails.

I met with Heidi Ganzer, registered dietitian with MOHPA, on Friday morning. She was a wealth of good information and my head is still spinning trying to figure out how to apply it all! It will require some fairly significant life style changes in terms of shopping, cooking, and eating, but all that will bring better health now and down the road (to me and my family). I won't go into all the details, but her first two comments were 1) you should never eat (choke down) something that just doesn't taste good to you, no matter how healthy it is (goodbye yogurt!) and 2) never eat something bigger than your head (a Chipolte burrito was an example). Along with many specifics (like greens and beans), the recommendations were many that we should all be doing anyway, such as daily exercise, lots of water, 9-13 servings of fruits & veggies daily, lots of good, lean protein. I'm thinking Trader Joe's is going to become a new favorite. I stopped there right after my appointment and picked up some steel cut oatmeal and flax seed, among other things.

I did hear from the oncologists' office today that my ER/PR/HER2 results remained negative after additional pathology testing. I had been praying much about this and I was very happy to hear the HER2 results. When that is positive, I understand that is an unfavorable prognostic factor.

The USPS was so kind as to deliver my Amazon.com order of 2 Leslie Sansone "Walking" exercise DVDs today. So, I paused my research and tried out a mile of each one (they go up to 3 miles each). I think these will work great for getting in the 30-90 minutes of "activity" on most days, as was recommended. It felt good to "move" more, with just some soreness yet on my left side. I'll have to start that healing process over again after surgery on Thursday, but I'll be able to get a couple of days in.

I still have some phone calls to make regarding wigs, but I do have a few leads on good ones. I also need to check on insurance to see if they cover certain expenses that may occur in the clinical trial. And I'm waiting to hear from my 3M short-term disability case worker to make sure we have all the paperwork ready that we need. I have a lot a resources and assistance, which does make this a little bit easier.

I'm so thankful for all of you. It's great to be able to pick up the phone and bounce new (sometimes scary) information and questions and ideas off someone I can trust. Your prayers continue to be so important and such a blessing to me and my family. I've learned about several others facing and fighting different cancers in the last few days. Nothing is more essential than the prayers and positive and encouraging thoughts and words.

Rise and shine...

Just a quick update. My out-patient surgery is scheduled for next Thursday, March 20th, at 7:00 a.m. I'll be arriving at Woodwinds at 5:45! (Yes, I know certain people are already at work at that time!)

I also got a call back from the American Cancer Society today. I'm registered for a "Look Good, Feel Better" class in Woodbury in early April. Professionals teach you how to use make-up, etc., to help keep you looking good and therefore feeling better & more confident throughout treatment (especially loss of eyelashes, eyebrows, etc.).

This is just one of an abundance of resources that I never knew existed. I'll take advantage of anything that is positive and healing that will make this journey less arduous.

Please keep me and my family and the surgical team in your prayers on the 20th. It will be the first day of Spring. A day of new beginnings! Thank you!

Onward....and still waiting.....

So, I have some new information today, but "everything" is still not quite clarified.

Yesterday, I met with Dr. Hartung to discuss the additional surgery, and she felt it was reasonable to go forward with an additional excision, with the knowledge that if there are any more positive margins, it would then be a mastectomy. She realized the pathology report was missing some important information regarding Estrogen/Progesterone/Her-Neu positive or negative. She'll be calling me after speaking with the pathologist. These are necessary for determining the type and course of chemotherapy. With all else that was determined, this cancer is considered early stage 2, aka stage 2A, primarily because of the size.

We also talked about the options for chemo, including a possible clinical trial. I'd have a 50/50 chance of getting either of the two treatments - one that would have a side effect profile ~5% worse than the standard treatment, and one that would be ~5% better than standard. I'll have to study the paperwork they send me and make a decision. However, can't make that decision without the missing information from above.... Chemo will start about 2 weeks following the final surgery.

Side effects will include, of course, hair loss. She gave me the name of a place in Hastings, "A Fitting Place," which is a full service place for wigs, etc. I'm still looking at others, too. She looked at me and said, "It will take a long time to grow back hair like that." Then she looked at Mike and said, "It would take 3-4 months to grow hair like that." Hmmm....his style is not my style!

Also had blood work and a chest X-ray to establish a baseline.

I scheduled an appointment with their nutritionist for this Friday to ensure I'm eating the best possible things to maintain the greatest health. Low Glycemic Index foods are my friends! Maybe not always to the taste buds, but at least to the healthy cells in my body. Organic is also becoming "standard" around here.

This morning I met with Dr. Koeplin. He is very confidant we can get that remaining positive margin removed with an additional excision and that this can be an outpatient procedure, which will go over well with my sons - they did NOT like that I was in the hospital overnight. He said it looked like my other incisions were healing just fine (okay, how about not using deodorant under one arm - you are all glad I haven't been in to work! Sorry if that was TMI!). I always feel better after meeting with him.

The scheduler will hopefully call this afternoon to schedule the surgery for next week. I'd like it ASAP! I imagine I'll need a pre-op physical again. This is seriously a full time job, trying to get a handle on all this.

I did read a wonderful book "There's No Place Like Hope: A Guide to Fighting Cancer in Mind-Sized Bites" (Amazon.com is also my friend!) It was very encouraging and made me feel I'm not "crazy" for having certain fears or questions or feelings. I did so much "cancer" yesterday, however, that I didn't sleep too well, so I'm going to try and do some "Wendee the person" things today instead.

Again, I can't say enough how I appreciate the positive thoughts, good wishes, prayers, cards, gifts, and offers of help you are sending our way! The support is amazing and humbling. I truly believe I'll be a changed person, in many ways, when this journey is complete. God does keep placing the right people/books/information, etc. in my path right when I need them. For this I am so grateful.

And then a step back....

Today I am a week post (first) surgery and things are starting to heal and are becoming a little less sore. You may have noticed I said "first" surgery. Unfortunately, I got a call this afternoon from Dr. Koeplin, the surgeon, telling me that the pathology report shows that there is still an area with "positive" margins that will require additional surgery. My appointment with him was hence rescheduled for next Wednesday (12th) following my appointment with Dr. Hartung, oncologist, on Tuesday. They will determine the extent of the surgery required - an additional excision, or a mastectomy. The good news is that even after more "sophisticated" tests, the lymph nodes remain negative. He recommended that I remain off work until after these next appointments.

I also went in for an extra (modified) adjustment from my chiropractor this morning (keep the immune system working at its maximum) and got a nutritional "lesson" as well, which will be helpful in maintaining the best health possible during treatment and recovery. A few take aways include that broccoli is a big winner, along with other dark greens, water is the beverage of choice, and there are also a fair number of things to avoid when possible (sugar, etc.).

As someone wisely mentioned to me, I'm on a very steep learning curve right now, so I'm trying learn and understand what I need to know without getting information overload. One thing that every new piece of information does seem to contain is that a positive mental/emotional attitude is perhaps more essential than any other physical factor. That is one area that I am "feeding" as much as possible with inspirational books and music while I'm at home. The knowledge of every one's positive thoughts and prayers is a huge boost as well. I can't tell you how much you are appreciated and constantly touching my heart. Know that you are contributing to my positive attitude and therefore my healing.

Thank you so much for continuing to pray.