Because I know many of you lead very busy lives and may not have the time to read through the reams of stuff i write, I'm going to try and put the highlights in a different color so that you can just scan these postings. For the rest of you, you get to savor every word, no matter what color the ink is! Cool?
So here's the update on my health: on Tuesday, September 15/09, the cancerous tumor (which was embedded in the milk ducts, as I understand it), the sentinel node, one other node plus both my breasts were removed for analysis.
The sentinel node is the node closest to the tumor. It was clean! If it is clean, it means that all other nodes in the area (around 30 of them) are also clean.
Does that mean I am now cancer-free? Let's hope so, but it's not a given. Now that the tumor has been removed, it will be analyzed and in around 3 weeks, we will know both the size and type of the tumor. That's when more decisions will be made.
From my understanding (my doctor is being very vague but I pumped one of his visiting team members for information before I left the hospital), certain types of tumors may have 'maverick cells' that float off into other parts of the body and start doing their dirty work elsewhere. My doctor's job is to analyze the size of the tumor, I suppose so that he can guesstimate the amount of time it was in my body, and what kind of cancer it is.
Based on that information, he may decide that follow-up chemo is in order, to ensure random cells or tumors are zapped and destroyed.
So, although the cancerous tumor had not spread much within my breast nor into the surrounding lymph nodes, this does not mean I have been declared 'cancer-free'.
Hmm....does this freak me out? No! I am grateful to have received the news that the cancer hadn't spread into the lymph nodes, and now I am choosing to believe God that it has not had enough time to do much other damage in other parts of my body.
The tumor, I believe, was a Stage 0 or 1, although I'm not entirely sure - that's one question I didn't think to ask my doctor, since I was still half-drugged and thinking more about the lymph nodes than anything else. But the tumor was not advanced, and I think we caught it early enough that my situation is looking good. :)
My feeling is that my doctor will probably order some sort of chemo for me, for awhile, anyways. He had previously talked about doing the chemo for a year, but we'll see what he says after the test results are back. The intensity and duration of the chemo will obviously be determined by the size and type of the tumor.
And in the meantime? Like with so many things in life, I'll wait.....
In the meantime, you'll find me living my life to the fullest - for sure!
There are no lifetime warranties that come with life....
No manual that comes at birth.
No promises of how long our lives will last...
Nor how happy...
Nor how healthy....
So I have two choices:
To live in fear...
Or to live my life fully, live it joyfully....
And to live it content,
Knowing that some things are just out of my control.
That's okay, because when it's all too much, He will carry me.
He will carry you, too, if you'll let Him.
Carry You by Amy Grant
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child
If I can walk on water
And calm a restless sea
I've done a thousand things you've never done
And I'm weary watchin'
While you struggle on your own
Call my name, I'll come
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child
I give vision to the blind
And I can raise the dead
I've seen the darker side of Hell
And I returned
And I see those sleepless nights
And I count every tear you cry
I know some lessons hurt to learn
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry you, my child, my child
Lay down your burden, I will carry you
I will carry carry, my child, my child
I will carry you, my child, my child
I will carry you
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