The journey begins..

Breast cancer changed my life in many ways in a short amount of time and we have just began the journey. I was a 40 years old mother of 2 grown children and a 12 year old and a 4 year granddaughter and another on the way. I had been married for 21 years and worked full-time and was a full-time college student. I had a family history of breast cancer but it is one of those things you think won't happen to you. I found a lump around February 2013 and thought it was a caffeine bump. In April it was getting bigger so I went to the doctor and scheduled a mammogram and ultrasound. I went for the test on April 23 and watched as other women had the test done and left while I kept getting called in for more test. They scheduled me for a surgery to remove the lump at the local hospital. I cancelled the surgery and went to Greenwood Indiana to a Breast Cancer Specialist on May 1, 2013. They did additional mammograms and ultrasound and biopsies to get a better view of what they were dealing with. On May 3, 2013 I got the phone call that the lump was cancer in my left breast but the hundreds of little spots in my right breast were not cancerous and my left lymph nodes that did not look normal under ultra sound tested negative. I had complications from the biopsy (infection) and my fibromyalgia was also flared up and causing me pain which put me off of work. In the next month I went to 9 doctors and had test done to prepare for surgery on June 20th to remove both breast and start the reconstruction by inserting expander in both breast and nipple sparing surgery to save my nipples. This all happened so fast and turned my whole life upside down. I had to sell my car to make up for my lost income. My employer was no help even though they help people with disabilities, they went as far as taking half of a 40  hour gift of vacation time. I had respected Stone Belt and what they did for people until they showed me the true colors when I needed them most. On July 3rd after several days with a fever and a few trips to the plastic surgeon and the ER I had to have one of my expander taken out due to infection. I am still adjusting to only having one breast. My final pathology also was a shock to everyone when they found cancer also in my lymph nodes that were thought to be cancer free. I applied for disability after learning this and that my doctor have me off of work permanently at this point. I had a PET scan done of my whole body to look for any cancer that is hiding and find out Monday my radiation and chemo schedule. My third surgery to replace my expander is scheduled for August 5th and they hope to be able to do the reconstruction before the scar tissue and other damage is done from the radiation. I have also developed lymphodema in my left arm so have to have treatment for that. The drains that come along with breast surgery are such a pain and nasty, thought I was done with them but looks like I will have them for 2 more surgeries. I have a grandson that was born May 11, 2013 that I can not hold because of my restriction and since I am having another surgery soon it will be a while before I can hold him. The disability process is moving faster then I thought, I had the mental evaluation on June 19th and have the physical evaluation on June 22nd. I hope to be able to post good news about the test results I get Monday and about my disability. I started this blog as a way to educate other women about breast cancer and to have a place to go back to later and read about my journey with this horrible disease. I will try to update this blog at least once a week and hope to make it look fancy like some of the others I have seen on here. Please keep me and my family in your prayers and women do your self exams and if you find anything new get it checked out. I have found out that cancer doesn't discriminate and you can fight it if you find it early. If you have a family history you can also get the BRAC genetic testing done so you know your risk. If anyone has any questions you can reach me at mistypa12000@yahoo.com, be sure to put cancer blog in the subject. I also have a fund raiser if anyone is interested donating items to sell or if you are interested in buying items or donating. I am hoping to have disability by October, I hope they don't fight me to get it with me fighting so hard to get past cancer already. I have a full day of doctors appointments tomorrow so going to start to unwind so I can get some sleep for my 7am doctors appointment.