A LITTLE BACKGROUND HISTORY

Hi All! I'm going to jump right in with some of Mom's stats from her last bout of "BC" (breast cancer) to bring everyone up to speed.Ok, here are the stats:

November, 1992: Mom was diagnosed with Intraductal Carcinoma in the right breast. This is a fancy way of saying that her cancer was noninvasive & found in a milk duct. The doctors also put her at Stage 0. Stage zero means that the cancerous cells are noninvasive & haven't broken through any membranes; which means they can't spread through the blood stream, the lymphatic system or into other tissues nearby.

Treatment: Mom had a lumpectomy in January 1993 to remove the duct & had a course of radiation for 6 weeks. NO chemo was given, as the cancer was noninvasive.

Fast forward almost 19 years later...

Diligently keeping up with her follow up appointments, Mom went in for a routine mammogram in July of this year. The doctor saw a small mass that looked questionable so an MRI was immediately ordered to "get a better view". The mass was on the same breast & in same area as before, 19 years ago. The MRI showed that there was indeed an area that needed to be examined further. On August 9th, Mom went in for a biopsy & at the end of that week, we were given the unfortunate news: the BC was back. That bastard, how dare you!

Now this is the part where I'm going to veer of course a little to explain further in detail the impact the news brought to Mom & our family. Enraged, terrified, & overwhelmed are a few words I would use to explain the initial emotions we all went through. But, when have you ever known my family to give in to those kind of feelings?  No way. Instead, almost instantly, we channeled those feelings into a different force…a force to be reckoned with! One that says, "Hell NO! I'm not letting that dirty little word "cancer" intimidate us! NOPE. Not happening, for one more second!" See, my mother is a fighter. She is not the person she was 19 years ago. She is more assertive & confident. Why? Because of her first battle with BC. It helped mold & shape her into the amazing, beautiful, and strong person she is today. Her outlook on life changed; her eating habits, her lifestyle, they all did an about face. So, I guess I can thank BC for making my mom a fighter. So Mom, let's get your game face on & go to battle once more. Let's kick this BC once & for all!

Sorry, I digress...back to the prognosis. Mom scheduled an appointment with her surgeon for the following week to discuss treatment options & find out more about this "trouble maker" (to put it very mildly). At that appointment, we learned that the BC had a different name this time around: Infiltrating Ductal Carcinoma and its invasive. Further testing on the tumor will, hopefully, confirm the doctor's opinion that it's Stage 1. I almost did back flips out of the doctor's office when I heard that news! Actually, I think it was more like a high five, but you get the idea. Here's the deal, if it is in fact Stage 1, that means it has not spread to her lymph nodes, which is a beautiful thing. If it is not in her lymph nodes, the likelihood of the cancer spreading to other organs is slim. It also means that she does not have to chemo. Keep in mind that there are lots of other factors that go into these decisions for her treatment. And though someone with the same diagnosis may have a completely different protocol, I'm just giving the highlights of Mom's course.

Mom basically has two options for treatment this time around:

                1. A mastectomy for the complete removal of the breast

                2. A lumpectomy & another course of radiation treatment.

Pros of the Mastectomy are that she will negate the chance of the cancer ever coming back in that breast & no radiation is given. This being her second time around, her surgeon is suggesting this procedure to protect her against possible future tumors. The cons? Well, that's pretty obvious.

Now the cons of the lumpectomy, in our opinion, severely outweigh the pros. There is only one pro & that is for cosmetic reasons; to keep the breast intact. That said, let me list the cons. The breast will be significantly smaller than the other one, so a prosthetic of some sort will have to be used regardless of whether she opts for the lumpectomy or the mastectomy. Following this course of action would mean that  she would also have to go for mammograms every six months. That, in itself is nerve-racking. Think about it; to have to worry every six months, "Is it back...AGAIN? What's going to happen this time around?", would be horrible! The biggest con, however, is that Mom would have another course of radiation to the same area, which is something she has decided that she does not want to do.

You can see which way she’s leaning, I’m sure…

At this point, either course of action is on hold until Mom goes through genetic testing, which is the next step. This is to determine if she has the BRCA gene mutation that could, in theory, lead BC to surface in the other healthy breast. Statistically, there is a 90% chance that she DOES NOT have the mutation to the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene, so we're hoping that is the case. In the event that she does have the mutation to the gene, a double mastectomy would be the course of action to take. Again, the odds are in our favor that the test will come back negative, and we are crossing everything that this will be the case. This week, Mom goes to her appointment for the genetic counseling & testing. You know I'll be back with a full report!

Below is a pic of Mom & Dad outside Lahey Clinic after her appt with the surgeon last week. Dad gives the overall news a great big thumbs up...as do I!