The Start of Things…

Well, here we are. Not somewhere we’d really expected to be, but it’s not like anyone expects to be here… so, here we go.

If you’re reading this you likely know that Kathryn (I, because I’m writing this post) has breast cancer. More specifically, Triple Negative Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. We don’t know what stage it is precisely because while the tests indicate that something is going on in at least one of the lymph nodes, it’s not clear if it’s cancer or irritation/inflammation from the biopsy. Also, the biopsy of the lymph node that was done was also negative for cancer. It is either stage II or stage III, but again, none of the doctors will officially stage it because of the uncertainty between the tests. In other good news, the PET scan and MRI didn’t show any cancer elsewhere in the body. (We are very happy about this and quite relieved!) In general, the prognosis is excellent and we are confident in a full recovery from this based on the conversations with my doctors.

How was it found? Well, here’s the plug for ensuring you are doing any and all annual screening you should be doing. It was found in my annual mammogram. Please, if you are behind on something, get un-behind, book it today.

As a side note, I am determinedly NOT spending much time on Google here. I’ve done some cross checking by looking at the American Cancer Society website and getting two different oncologist opinions, but I don’t want the Dr. Google deep rabbit hole regarding the diagnosis and what-ifs.

The current protocol for treating my specific diagnosis is:

• Chemotherapy & Immunotherapy (in my case ~20 weeks)
• Some time to rest from chemo & immunotherapy (likely 4-6 weeks or possibly more)
• Surgery (TBD specifically what type yet, but that decision is coming, and is becoming more clear)
• Radiation (TBD on duration)
• Potentially more immunotherapy (up to 9 months worth)

I’ve chosen to do my care at City of Hope here locally – yes there’s an office here that doesn’t require a drive to Duarte. 🙂 The doctors we’ve found are truly amazing and I’m so pleased with them. We had our 2nd round of visits yesterday and I think I like them even more each time I’ve met/talked with them. Their advocacy for me as a whole person in addition to my care has been truly incredible so far and I’m confident it will continue. The nurse navigator has also been truly wonderful.

How am I feeling? Well, overall I’m feeling very positive. There is a way to get through this, it’s a very clearly defined path even if I’m not looking forward to walking it and I don’t quite know how it will affect me specifically. We all know how much I love a good plan to follow…even if I would have preferred not to have to follow this one. (I am particularly grateful to my friends who have beat this disease and who are in process of beating this disease for sharing your experiences, insight, support, and incredible help…thank you isn’t enough to say…you know who you are!)

I am also feeling overwhelmed, sad, frustrated, angry, and a whole bunch of other things that I don’t even really know what the feelings are yet. Our life has just been tossed into a martini shaker, shaken up and poured through a strainer and so I think this is all very valid too. That being said, I am very hopeful, and I am trying very hard not to dwell on anything other than taking everything one step at a time, one day at a time, and I’m sure sometimes it will be one minute at a time. I’m trusting the expert team to see us through this. And our support system, for which I am truly grateful, to help us as well.

What will I be doing over the next few months? Well, we’ll see. My first priority is taking care of myself and enabling my body to fight cancer and enable my health care team to help me and my body do that.

At work I’m stepping out of my current responsibilities. The role requires more time and energy than I will be able to give in the coming weeks/months. It was an easy decision to make for my own personal care but I’m very sad about it…I loved my job and it’s a ton of fun. That being said, I am grateful for great bosses who are supporting me in finding flexible ways for me to help the team while my main focus is kicking this cancer to the curb. I will work until I think my healing & care requires my full attention. I’m beyond grateful for this on so many levels and feel very fortunate that this is an option for me/us.

We’ll be adjusting our life to work around chemo/immunotherapy infusions…figuring out how many days I feel lousy and trying to figure out what our new routine is. Mike will continue to be the most amazing and supportive husband. And he always makes me laugh. I am going to try and better learn how to accept and ask for help. Lily will continue to be a most adorable kitty cat and spread fur absolutely everywhere…she will likely love seeing us at home more.

The insurance approvals for the chemo/immunotherapy were submitted on Friday, 1 April, and I’m hopeful I can start my first infusion Thursday or Friday of this coming week. Getting going means one less week to go – I very much want to start climbing this mountain to get to the top although I’m not really sure what the top is…surgery?

I know there are a lot of people out there who are kind enough to be interested in how things are going for us. We are so grateful to you! We will post on this website as we can, please sign up to get an email to be notified of a new post.

As a note, as much as possible, we’ll try to keep things fairly un-identifiable here for broader privacy reasons. (In other words, there may not be many photos here…)

Please be patient with comment responses, we likely won’t have energy/time to respond to many comments and we really appreciate your understanding on this. However, know that we will be reading them and are grateful for your thoughts and support. We both have been so positively overwhelmed and touched by the outpouring of support, love, prayer, and kindness over the last couple of weeks as we’ve started to share the situation with people. Thank you!

Forgive me for not being terribly concise, but there’s a lot going on, and I thought I would give you all the insight into the current state of things. Thank you for considering following along as we fight this. I’m confident of the destination…cancer free at the end. We are grateful for all of you and the support you have already offered and continue to offer. It means a lot to both of us! Thank you, we hope you and all who you love are well!

Also, finally, thanks so much to Dave & Audrey for getting us setup here with the website…this is so awesome, thank you!