Encouraged by Good News...
These last two weeks have been some of the hardest in my life. I'm sure Rob would say the same. One of the biggest things I want to say to everyone who read the difficult news of my breast cancer diagnosis is "Thank you!" We have never felt more loved and supported and prayed for than we did this past week. I think the thing that has impacted me the most is the peace I have felt knowing so many of you are praying for me and Rob and the kids as we walk this difficult path. We have a long road ahead and many hard decisions to make, yet we have confidence that we do not walk through this alone. For that we are immeasurably grateful.
We got some very good news today. It has been a week of many tests and doctor appointments and we are not finished with all consultations, but we walked away from today very encouraged. After MRI and PET scan results, it was confirmed that this is an early stage cancer and is contained to one small tumor and one lymph node. For those of you interested, it was classified as T1N1M0, which as best I can tell is stage 2a. This is very encouraging in that with that classification comes a very good prognosis. Because of my age and the fact that it is in one lymph node, it does seem that chemo, radiation and surgery (not necessarily in that order) will be necessary and will give me the best prognosis in the long term.
My next steps are to meet again with the medical oncologist, who now has all the pathology and test results to give his recommendation for whether we do chemo before or after surgery. Also, we met with the surgeon and radiation oncologist today and our minds are swimming with information and statistics. The biggest decision I need to make is what type of surgery to have. We'd really appreciate continued prayers as we pray through and consider all the information we've been given to decide the extent of surgery to have.
Even with all these doctor appointments and tests, we've really been able to enjoy our vacation week with Rob's extended family. We've had beach days, pool days, a Fourth of July BBQ, a fun day at the waterpark in Wildwood and lots of family fun. It's been a good week. We are looking forward to spending time with my side of the family next week as well. All these activities are things we had originally planned for furlough, and we've been glad to still have this precious time with family.
Please continue to pray, it accomplishes much!
We got some very good news today. It has been a week of many tests and doctor appointments and we are not finished with all consultations, but we walked away from today very encouraged. After MRI and PET scan results, it was confirmed that this is an early stage cancer and is contained to one small tumor and one lymph node. For those of you interested, it was classified as T1N1M0, which as best I can tell is stage 2a. This is very encouraging in that with that classification comes a very good prognosis. Because of my age and the fact that it is in one lymph node, it does seem that chemo, radiation and surgery (not necessarily in that order) will be necessary and will give me the best prognosis in the long term.
My next steps are to meet again with the medical oncologist, who now has all the pathology and test results to give his recommendation for whether we do chemo before or after surgery. Also, we met with the surgeon and radiation oncologist today and our minds are swimming with information and statistics. The biggest decision I need to make is what type of surgery to have. We'd really appreciate continued prayers as we pray through and consider all the information we've been given to decide the extent of surgery to have.
Even with all these doctor appointments and tests, we've really been able to enjoy our vacation week with Rob's extended family. We've had beach days, pool days, a Fourth of July BBQ, a fun day at the waterpark in Wildwood and lots of family fun. It's been a good week. We are looking forward to spending time with my side of the family next week as well. All these activities are things we had originally planned for furlough, and we've been glad to still have this precious time with family.
Please continue to pray, it accomplishes much!
- Pray for clear direction for the extent to surgery to have
- Pray for my team of doctors as they consult to develop a clear recommendation regarding a treatment plan
- Pray for wisdom as we decide whether obtain a second opinion
- Pray for us as as family. We hope to still be able to continue in the next few weeks some of the fun plans we had made and looked forward to for the last 2 years in Haiti. There are going to be many changes in the weeks and months to come, please pray for Rob and the kids as they walk through this with me.
Becky
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