Rosie was diagnosed with Breast Cancer on June 29th, 2009. After treatment and surgery she lived happily cancer free for 2 years. On Dec. 8th, 2011 we learned the cancer had returned in her bones. Your support, prayers, and messages are very much appreciated!! We got her through this once, we can do it again!!
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Ohhh, this is not the story I, as a daughter, want to be writing but I know that there are a lot of people that care about mom and want to keep updated on her recovery. This is just the start but I will try to keep everyone updated as best I can and I can't express how much everyone's support is appreciated and needed!!
How this all started.......On Saturday, June 20th, 2009 mom found a lump in her breast and noticed some dimpling. She called the clinic on Monday and made an appointment to see a doctor on Wednesday, June 24th. The doctor she saw immediately ordered an ultrasound and mammogram. The following day we met with Dr. Beth Thomas who informed us of the probability of cancer and sent us to have a biopsy of the the breast and lymph node. On Monday, June 29th we were given the final diagnosis of Invasive Lobular Carcinoma of the right breast. The ultrasound guided biopsy showed the mass to be about 3 cm which is too large to operate on at this time. Dr. Beth Thomas has recommended to start Chemo as soon as possible and wait for the mass to shrink enough to allow for surgery to remove the breast at a later date (approx 3-6 months of Chemo was her estimate). More tests were scheduled for Tuesday to see if the cancer had spread. After some blood work, a chest xray, a nuclear bone scan and a CT scan we got the great news that the cancer has not spread past the breast. So now we take this journey day by day. There were no warning signs, the cancer was not detected on her mammogram in August of 2008 because apparently lobular cancers are not easily detected on mammograms. From what I have found on the internet, Lobular Breast Cancer (vs Ductal Breast Cancer) is the rarer form of cancer, but has a higher cure rate!! Which is great and encouraging news.
*****Skip forward to December 2011*****
Mom went in for her regular 6 month cancer check up on Thurs. Dec. 1st. Her blood work came back with some alarming numbers. Her liver functions were high, blood sugar was high and blood pressure was high. She had been in to see the Dr in early November for some right side pain and heel pain. At that time the Dr. said she had a pulled muscle in her side and an xray was done diagnosing heel spurs. The pain in her side went away.
With the wacky blood work and history of aches and pains, Dr Vicky Thomas said she was alarmed but that we shouldn't worry until we got the cancer marker tests back in a few days. On Monday, Dec. 5th we got the results. The cancer marker tests were extremely elevated and more testing was needed to find where the cancer had returned. Again our lives were turned upside down.
On Wednesday mom had a nuclear bone scan and full body CT scan. Dr. Thomas called mom Thursday afternoon to confirm our worst fears. The cancer was indeed back and had settled into her bones. Her cancer has moved from a stage 3 to a stage 4 and is considered incurable. It had not spread to her organs so the best option we have is to start the dreaded chemo again and hope for remission after 12 weeks. Mom will start that on Dec. 23rd, 2011. Once the cancer goes into remission there is no timeline, but we just hope and pray for the best and try to stay positive. So, the fight begins again....
All of this is again new and very confusing to all of us as I'm sure you can understand. I will try my best to keep everyone updated on what we learn from the doctors, mom's condition during chemo and anything else that goes on.
**** FORWARD AGAIN TO MARCH OF 2014****
Mom had an allergic reaction to the Chemo they started giving her in 2011 in early 2012. Once she recovered from the weakness and anemia the chemo caused, she was then switched to a very expensive pill form of a "chemo like" drug. She tolerated that until spring of 2013 when she started getting fevers and weakness again. We ended up going to Rochester Mayo to find the source of infection and it ended up in septic shock and a week long hospital stay in July of 2013.
Since then things had been improving on a monthly basis. On March 21st, 2014 we went in for a routine monthly check up (which had been going great and Mom was feeling pretty good and living life!!) and once again the blood tests came back with elevated liver functions, it was decided that chemo would start the following Wednesday. A CT scan was done, and the cancer had once again reared its ugly head and settled into Mom's liver. She now has Breast cancer of the bone and liver.
Dr. Thomas in Red Wing is hoping that another 12 week round of chemo will stop the cancer in its tracks, the liver will start functioning correctly again, and Mom will be able to go back onto another "maintenance, hormone blocking" medication to keep it stable.
Thank You again for your support!!!! We feel that everyone that helped our family so much in the past was a huge part of Mom's recovery. She was able to live happily cancer free for 2 years, have a year long battle with the bone cancer, and now almost 5 years after original diagnosis we start the good fight again. With your support and prayers we can get her through this a third time. Right now all I have to ask is for everyone to keep her in your thoughts and prayers. She has a long road ahead but she is a fighter and we will all get this through this together....AGAIN!!
Just a quick update on mom. She has continued to decline and get weaker. She is sleeping comfortably during the day when people are sitting around her talking but seems to be the most agitated and restless during the night when it gets quiet. That's my Mommy!! She has always loved having people around.
The nurse has been here the last 2 days and says that mom's vitals are still holding strong but we think that she may have had a small stroke because her left side is much weaker than her right. Because of this we are no longer able to get her out of bed anymore. That was very very hard on all of us to tell her that, and very hard for her to take, but that's where we are at right now. We didn't tell her she had a stroke cuz we don't know for sure if that's what happened but its not safe for her or us to get her out of bed. Hospice taught us how to change bedding and all that while she is in bed. At this point we are just doing anything and everything we can to keep her comfortable and at peace.
I want to again thank everyone for everything you are all doing to help us through this very difficult time!! From the visits that usually start with tears, and then move into normal life talk, to the massive amounts of food and love that everyone has been bringing to us. Right now none of us know how to help mom, much less ourselves?!?! Haha But we are doing this day by day, hour by hour, and it's all in God's hands now.
I will update again when anything changes. I can't say thank you enough!! We wouldn't be able to do any of this without our AMAZING SUPPORT SYSTEM!!! Love you all!!
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