Welcome to my Blog!

For those of you, who didn't know, I was diagnosed with breast cancer on December 2, 2008.  I set up this Blog so I can talk about it.  I think I'm doing this more for my own therapy than anything else, but if what I talk about can help anyone that is going through or might go through the same thing, then that's great.  I also thought it would be a good place for those of you who might want to check on my progress, to find out how I'm doing.  Anyway, WELCOME!!!

The first thing I want to say to all my female friends and family is GET YOUR YEARLY MAMMOGRAMS,  and if you feel like something is wrong, GET IT CHECKED OUT!  I've had yearly mammograms for at least ten years, if not more, and they always came back normal.  My last regular mammogram was in February 2008.  It came back normal.  I didn't notice anything different with my breast until the middle to latter part of October 2008.  Then I just noticed that sometimes when I slept on my stomach I'd be awakened with pain in my right breast, especially around the nipple.  I didn't think much of it, because there was nothing else that seemed different and it didn't hurt all the time.  I just thought I might be sleeping on it wrong. 

I had set up an appointment with my regular physician for my annual checkup on November 20th.  She won't renew any perscriptions unless she sees her patient's in person, and I thank her with all my heart for that attitude.  Otherwise, who knows how long it would have been before I discovered this.  Anyway, the day before I went in for my checkup, I noticed that the nipple on my right breast looked like it was inverting. (Sorry, guys, I know this is probably more than you wanted to know)  I knew that was not good.  So during my checkup I told her all this and she set me up for a diagnostic mammogram on December 2nd.

My appointment was for 1:30pm at the LDS Hospital Radiology Dept. and four hours later I went home.  The mammography machine at LDS is digital, and can see things much more clearly.  They saw something, so they wanted to do an ultrasound, which showed something even more clearly, so then they wanted to do a biopsy.  They had a difficult time finding my doctor to get permission to do it, as she had left her office for the day, but they finally got ahold of her, and went ahead with it.  I thought at the time, ask me for permission, because I'll give it.

They did an ultrasound guided biopsy of the tumor, taking three samples, and finally sent me home, telling me they would have the results by Friday (this was Tuesday).  

Needless to say, the next couple of days were rather nerve racking.  I think I knew in my heart, even though my brain didn't want to admit it, that it was malignant.  The only thing that kept me from going bonkers at the time was the fact that I had a group of women coming to my home on December 4th for a meeting, and I wanted my Christmas decorations put up before that.  So, I dived in and got that done, and tried not to think of the other.  Finally, Friday morning arrived and I called my doctor.  Of course she wasn't available and would return my call.  She called back about an hour later and told me what I already knew.  In fact, when she called, she said "I think you already know this, but it's malignant."  She told me she was sorry, and we talked a few minutes about the pathology report, then she gave me some names of surgeons that I might want to call, and wished me luck. 

My first thought after our conversation was to call my brother, Ted, who is a Pediatrician in Price, Utah.  Then I thought I should call my daughter, Amy.  She's a nurse and I thought she might know who to call.  I think I was in a mild shock.  I wanted to do something but wasn't sure what.  Finally, I looked up the two surgeons that Dr. Sambado a suggested first.  Her first suggestions was Dr. Leigh Neumayer at the Huntsman Cancer Institute, and the second was Dr. Regina Rosenthal at the IHC Regional Hospital.  She had  told me they were both excellent, so I called Dr. Neumayer first, but her secretary was unavailable. Then I called Dr. Rosenthal's office. The soonest she could see me was the 23rd of December.  I made the appointment and then went shopping with my daughter, Amy.  I think she was more upset than I was.  I probably was still in a bit of denial.  She was also upset that I couldn't get in to see the doctor till the 23rd, so I told her I'd try to get ahold of Dr. Neumayer on Monday.  When I called on Monday, the soonest they could see me was the 18th of December.  I took the appointment and hung up.  Not an hour later, her secretary called back and said there was a cancellation for tomorrow, and do I want the appointment.  Of course, I jumped at it, and thus began my adventure in the world of cancer.