Sunday, October 08, 2006

Where have you been????



That's the question I've gotten a couple of times. Considering there aren't many people that read this blog, only a couple of questions am I ever going to get anyway. :)

Alright, here's the deal. We've been having family issues going on and I wasn't ready to actively discuss it. Since I couldn't write in my blog without mentioning it, I decided not to write anything at all. Maybe not the best choice, but the one I made none-the-less. I probably won't make that same decision again.

The issues: My sister, Leslie, if you recall from this page, had breast cancer back in 2002. She went through the chemo, radiation and a lumpectomy to rid herself of the disease. Everything was good for 4 years...Until this year. She went for her 6 month mammogram and they noticed a lump in her other breast. After a few days, they biopsied and found it to be the same type (invasive ductal carcinoma) that she had 4 years ago. It was in the opposite breast and we found out, later on, that it was a "second primary site" and not a mastasized cancer. (Meaning, it wasn't left over cancer from the last time that had traveled through her body and ended up showing in the other breast. It was a new showing of the same type) It was a very large roller coaster of emotions for her and all the family. In the past weeks, she has had her biopsy and then had a double mastectomy. At only 39 years old, that wasn't an easy decision to come by, but considering the past, the chances of it coming back, and maybe not surviving a third attack, it was a decision she made pretty readily. So, she is back home recuperating from the surgery. During the surgery, they noticed that the tracer dye they use to trace out the cancer showed up in one of her lymph nodes. So, they pulled out 17 and that one was the only one that was infected. So, another bit of good news came our way.

Since she's been diagnosed, Leslie has had an outpouring of support from her friends, her family and her Church. Since she's been home from the hospital, they haven't had to cook a meal (breakfast, lunch or supper) in over a week and a half. We all appreciate all the support and concern from everyone around..

The latest update: The Doc has given Leslie a "clean bill of health." She is starting to move around almost normally and she has started her rehab on her right arm. She will start her chemotherapy in the next few weeks. With the lymph node new, they are saying no radiation will be necessary this time. We'll know for 100% later on after the chemo is finished.


As I said before, we appriciate all the help, concern and thoughts since Leslie has been diagnosed. We appreciate it if you would keep her and her family in your thoughts.

Now that I've done this, I'll be writing more often in this, so stay tuned..

1 Comments:

At 12 October, 2006 14:28, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Glad to hear the good news of your recovery Leslie! It's also good to know that there are decent people out there that take care of each other!

 

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