People have been wanting to remain updated as far as my cancer treatment is concerned…just a warning, I’m not a wordy person, so if you are expecting flowery updates, you will be disappointed. Here goes…

First off, I would like to thank everyone for the support received following my diagnosis. Thank-you for all the encouraging words, cards, phone calls, visits and even smiles but most of all, thank-you for your continued prayers. I know that I face a difficult road ahead, but trust that everything is in the Lord's hands and pray that He will grant healing.

Now, a little (OK…a lot of) history. I discovered a lump under my right arm in mid-October. I decided I should get it checked out. It can be quite difficult to get a doctor’s appointment here, but I was advised to phone on the seventeenth of the month, first thing in the morning. So I tried…busy, and again, busy. I think I phoned six times before I finally got through. The earliest I could get in was December 1, so I took the appointment. I hadn’t been in for a complete physical for a few years, so that is what I decided to do. My appointment was made.

By the time I actually had my appointment, I had found a lump in my right breast as well. The doctor had no problem finding the lump under my arm, but he couldn’t seem to find the one in my breast.

The following week, I received a call from my doctor’s office. He wanted to see me because my blood glucose test came back a little high. So I had another appointment with him on December 11th. It turned out my blood glucose was slightly elevated, but not high enough to worry about.
By the time I left the doctor’s office that afternoon, I had an appointment in Devon on December 9th for a mammogram and ultra sound. My doctor sent me to Devon because if necessary, they would do a biopsy the same day, at the same appointment. (I was told it was one-stop-shopping!)

Claudia drove me to Devon for my appointment. My mammogram and ultra sound showed two lumps, as I had suspected. One in my right breast, and the other under my right arm. I ended up having two biopsies that day. The results would be sent to my doctor in a week.

On December 11th, I merrily went to my doctor’s appointment to discuss my elevated glucose. The doctor came into the room, and sat behind the computer. He wanted to check my tests. He told me he had the results of my biopsies. I was quite surprised, because I’d only had them done two days before. He informed me that both lumps tested positive for cancer. I had been diagnosed with breast cancer. He explained that I would need surgery, chemo, and radiation. He would set up an appointment with a surgeon in Edmonton. I also needed a couple of chest x-rays. The x-ray lab at the hospital was still open, so I had them done the same day.

The following Tuesday, I received a call that I had an appointment with Dr. Stewart Hamilton at the University of Alberta Hospital (UofA ) on December 16th. Short notice, but that was fine with me!

The surgeon had his intern take some history then he returned to examine me. He figured both lumps were about 3 cm X 3 cm. Because one of the lumps was in my lymph node, he wanted me to have chemotherapy first, the idea being to shrink the lumps and prevent it from spreading. I also still needed to go for more tests to make sure there was no cancer anywhere else. He set up an abdominal ultra sound and a bone scan for me in St. Albert. He also contacted the Cross Cancer Institute (CCI) in Edmonton so that they could set me up with an oncologist. My ultrasound and bone scan were scheduled for December 22nd and my oncologist appointment was set for December 23. I also had a MUGA test (“to assess the function and motion of the left ventricle of your heart”) scheduled for December 24.

December 22 ended up being a long day in St. Albert. I had my ultrasound, and then I went to the nuclear medicine section of the building to have dye injected for my bone scan. The dye needed time to circulate throughout my bones…like 2 ½ hours! We left for the 2 ½ hours and had breakfast and did a bit of shopping (or time wasting…whichever you prefer!) My bone scan took a good hour to do. Heh! that was done….two more appointments this week!

December 23 was my oncologist appointment at the CCI. Dr. Tonkins was very informative, explaining exactly what I could expect. There was one problem though! My abdominal ultra sound showed something suspicious with my liver. She wasn’t sure what it was, but needed to check it out further in order to determine what kind of treatment I would receive. She scheduled a CAT scan for me on December 31 (someone had just cancelled their CAT scan, so I got their spot! ) and a chemo training class that day as well. I also had another appointment with Dr. Tonkins scheduled for January 8th to finalize my treatment and my first round of chemo is scheduled for January 11th.

On December 24, my dad brought me to the CCI for my MUGA test. They pumped some dye into me and did the test. It took about an hour. All I had to do was lay on there.

The 31st of December was my CAT scan at 7:45 am. I you ever had a CAT scan, you’ll know what I mean when I say, ‘What a weird feeling that was!’ My chemo training wasn’t until 1:30, so Marvin and I went out for breakfast and then wandered through West Edmonton Mall to kill some time. The chemo training was very informative. They let us know what kinds of side effects to expect, and when to be concerned about a side effect. Ha! Another long day done!

January 8th was my next appointment with the oncologist to finalize my treatment plan. The oncologist walked into the room with a big grin on her face! My liver was fine! Praise God! He hears our prayers!! No cancer there! We were quite concerned about this because liver cancer still can’t be cured, they can treat it, but not cure it.

The plan is that I will have 8 rounds of chemo, each three weeks apart depending on my blood counts. The first four will be three different drugs, and the other four will be another drug. (This can change depending on how the tumors react to the treatment.) After that, I will have a month break to bring up my blood counts again, and then I will need surgery. The exact type of surgery will be determined later. Following surgery, I will need radiation.

That’s all for now. I will let you all know how my first chemo treatment goes sometime next week.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!