Surgery Update

I am 2 weeks out from surgery and got my drains removed today!  They were definitely a nuisance, but I was grateful to have them.  Apparently, back in the day, people used to have to stay in the hospital for a longer time hooked up to a machine that drained the fluid.  I was pleasantly surprised that when the doctor pulled them out it just felt weird and not painful.  I even drove the kids home from school and made dinner...so I am feeling quite well.

Some notes about the day of surgery that I would like to record--I definitely felt a calm and peace that was beyond me going into surgery.  This scripture gave me strength as I thought of the Savior's words in John 14:27:  

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

I also appreciate all those who have been fasting and praying on my behalf and feel that this contributed to the peace that I felt.  I really appreciated having Chad there with me...He has been a rock through this all and I am grateful for his love, care, and support.  (I think maybe he should change careers and become a home health nurse because he has done great these past 2 weeks:)

I was so appreciative of the kind nurses and doctors who took care of me.  Upon being wheeled into the Operating Room (a first for me),  the nurse that was helping me onto the table looked at me with tears in her eyes and said, "We are going take good care of you!"  She then gave me a hug and that's when my tears came.  I was overwhelmed that this was "all in a day's work" for her and she still was able to provide comfort and show compassion.  The anesthesiologist then said, "She's the hugger, and I am the drugger."  The next thing I recall is waking up in the recovery room and I remember thinking, "That wasn't so bad--I wonder if it's possible to be under anesthesia for the next 6 months or so--just until chemotherapy was finished." I ran that idea past Chad and he didn't think it was such a good idea; however, I think it was worth a try.

I will share Chad's e-mail regarding the technical side to the surgery and what we have learned:

As you all know 2 weeks ago Jen was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.  This was a huge shock given the fact she is only 34.  I feel like it was nothing short of a miracle that we found her cancer at this time.  If you are one who only "believes in science" to quote Steven from Nacho Libre I admonish you to reconsider.  As one who has spent a fair amount of time studying science I am more convinced now than ever in my life that God is involved in our lives.

When it comes to cancer there are 2 big issues Grade and Stage:

Regarding GRADE: What we know at this time is that her tumor is a Grade 3 (Grade is how aggressive the tumor is.) Her tumor is also what is called a triple negative.  (some tumors have proteins called receptors attached to them.  There are three main proteins/receptors.  Having these receptors is a good thing because they can use medications that target them specifically and that makes chemo more effective.  Unfortunately Jen's tumor has none of the three (one disclaimer to that is that they based this info off of her original biopsy. Now that they have removed the tumor they will re-test it for the receptors. At times that info does change after the follow-up test.)  To summarize she unfortunately has an aggressive tumor.  She will start chemo in about 1 month.  

Regarding STAGE: (how wide spread it is)  Prior to surgery she had an MRI  of her chest.  This did not show any other sites of cancer except for the primary tumor.  It did not show any chest wall involvement or axillary involvement. Her tumor appears to be 17 mm (on the imaging), they will measure the actual tumor now it is out.  At the time of surgery they do what is called a sentinal lymph node biopsy.  They use a radioactive isotope to locate the first few lymph nodes that drain the breast.  They then remove them and look for cancer.  They do some preliminary testing during the surgery.  Her preliminary test were normal and they did not see any cancer in the lymph nodes. They will follow-up with some more sensitive testing to evaluate the nodes for very small clusters of cells in the lymph nodes.  We were relieved that they were normal at the initial testing.  In addition she is getting a PET scan in about a week to evaluate her entire body for any sign of cancer.  Usually if the sentinal lymph node is normal further spread is very unlikely.  At this point I am very hopeful that she will be at a Stage 1 but maybe it will be an early Stage 2.  Overall we are feeling extremely blessed to have caught this tumor at this stage.

So going forward.  She will recover from surgery for the next while.  Start chemo in about a month.  Chemo should last for about 5-6 months.  We will get some additional info from the final pathology.  We are still not sure whether she will need radiation or not, that will depend on the final pathology report.

Overall we are very tired, but optimistic.  It has been a life changing 2 weeks.  We feel truly blessed and have seen the hand of God in our life the past couple of weeks.

Thank you all for your support, prayers, and fasting.  We have felt strength from it.  We are confident and sure that God is at the helm.   We have spent a lifetime developing trust in Him, and He has felt close the past couple of weeks.  That trust has only been strengthened through this experience. 

We love you all,

Chad and Jen