Sam Eisenberg's Journal

Welcome to Sam's Web Page.
It has been provided to keep family and friends updated on this brave little boy's fight against AML.


Copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved Dana Eisenberg and Dennis Eisenberg (c)
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Journal

Sunday, July 8, 2007 3:04 PM CDT

Dear Cyber Friends,

I guess it's time to face the music as they say! Several weeks ago Dennis told me about an employee in his practice that had just found out her breast cancer was back for a third time. This time it had metastisized in her brain and lung. That night before bed I wrote on my to do list, "Call Dr. Hampe and schedule an MRI of my breasts." The following morning prior to Dennis leaving for surgery he said, "I think you should schedule an MRI."

I'm at my 5 year mark and about to go off of Tamoxifen and have a team of 12 formed to do the Komen 3-day, 60 mile walk in October. I just wanted to know moving forward into the next 5 years that I was "clean." Careful what you ask for!

I had the MRI and waited a couple of days for the results. Naturally, there was an enhancement that required further evaluation ie: mammo, sono, biopsy. A few days later I went for those scans but unfortunately nothing appeared that the Radiologist could biopsy. Next we went back to Presby for a scheduled MRI guided biopsy. Prior to going through that whole ordeal which it is a huge ordeal, their Radiologist wanted to take a look under their sono machine. The one at Presby is far more advanced in technology than the one I was previously scanned with. Within seconds she was able to identify the area at question and biopsy it. Two days later Dennis called with the news that in my heart I already knew. The good news is that it wasn't invasive as was the case 5 yrs ago but rather a small contained collection of early stage malignant cells called DCIS. On a Friday afternoon, Dennis and I went in to consult with Dr. Hampe regarding treatment. I already knew that a mastectomy was protocol but unbeknownst to Dennis I had made the decision to do both breasts. I had no desire to live my life in wonderment of when it would show up on the other side.

So one day I spent 7 hours at Presby doing all the necessary pre-op CT scans, bone scans, EKG, labs, paperwork, etc. Fortunately, Dennis and I had already planned an incredible trip to Santa Barbara (it was supposed to the be the finale of treatment for me) that the doctors insisted we not cancel. We went on that trip and it was indeed the trip of our lives. We returned on a Thursday night and I went into the OR at 1pm on the following Tuesday, the 19th. While in California I discovered I had an inguinal (sp?) hernia so that was also repaired at the time of surgery. I swear if I could have I would have had Lasik and teeth brightening at the same time!

I made it through the surgeries (hernia repair, double mastectomy and reconstruction) with flying colors and was back in a room by 8pm. I returned home on that Friday and have been doing fairly well ever since. All four drains are officially out as of yesterday but I am still experiencing quite a bit of pain, tightness and lethargy. Dennis' sister came in from California to help with the kids for the first 2 weeks and that was a true god send. My Aunt Sue will be here this week to welcome her newest grandbaby and I'm sooooo looking forward to seeing her. You all know how I adore her!

The Plastic Surgeon put tissue expanders in at the time of the surgery and filled them with 200cc's of saline. Beginning this week I will go in weekly for a small "fill up". Once I reach the appropriate size, we'll stop and let everything settle for a few weeks. Next, I'll go back into surgery and have the saline expanders removed and replaced with the permanent silicon prothesis. Several weeks later, I'll go back in and have the nipple/areola reconstruction done most likely from a skin graft. The one very interesting thing we discovered from pathology that was not expected was this; we anticipated them seeing some splattering of more microscopic DCIS cells but none were found, instead, a tiny invasive tumor was found. That tumor could have remained anonymous for several years before being detected and who knows what my outcome could have been at that point. I should also mention nodes were taken out on both sides and all were clear.

So that's basically the long and the short of it. My darling friend, Holly, did post a single sentence about this on Lynn's site and I heard about it while in California. She wrote about it with the most sincere of intents without knowing I had not wanted to share it quite yet with the cyber community. I was still trying to figure it all out myself. She was notified immediately and deleted it from her post. She did nothing at all out of the norm from what I would have expected as her heart is one of the purest I've been blessed to know.

As always I appreciate your love and support for our family. Sam took this event pretty hard. I believe in my heart although he didn't communicate it per se, that if mommy's cancer came back I wonder if mine will too? He was VERY intuned with all of the appointments and what transpired at each. He wanted to be reminded about when he went through chemo and why did he have to do radiation. And what was radiation anyway. The minute he entered my hospital room on Wednesday he wanted to see everything. The day I found out the news, I sat both kids down on the couch and explained everything to them. I don't believe in keeping sickness and death from my children...it's a part of life. They each processed it differently and appropriately to who they are. They've been amazing through it all. Very helpful and gentle while hugging and kissing me. When Sam came through my hospital door he came right up to me and with his sweet little hand, caressed my cheek and stroked my hair. "Are you alright mommy? Are you in any pain? How did you do with the surgery?" Ethan in all of Ethan's innocence just wanted to know if he could have some Diet Dr. Pepper.

I truly believe this is not to be my demise. One of my friends said, "Don't worry you're gonna die of heart disease with the rest of us!"

With that said, again thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers as so many of you have mentioned in Sam's guestbook. We're gonna get through this like everything else....one day at a time!

Love to you all!

Dana

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E-mail Author: danaeisenberg@yahoo.com

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