Betsey Kohls

First post: Sep 29, 2016 Latest post: Jan 17, 2018

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
On Thursday September 8th Betsey found an enlarged lymph node while shaving.  She was seen by her Dr and a diagnostic mammogram was scheduled for the following Monday.  Following the results of her mammogram as biopsy of the left breast and lymph nodes were obtained and by Wednesday September 14th a diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma with left axillary metastatic disease was given. On Wednesday September 21st an MRI, CT Scan, Echocardiogram and bone scan were done and it has been determined that the cancer is contained to the left breast an left axillary lymph nodes and has not spread any further.  We are thankful for that! A port was placed Thursday for chemo treatments. The biopsy's and port placement were uncomfortable but overall Betsey has been feeling pretty good.  She will begin Chemotherapy treatment this Wednesday 9/28/16.  She will receive chemotherapy every two weeks for 5 months.  The hopes of chemotherapy are to shrink the tumor and lymph nodes.  Breast surgery will most likely follow.  Betsey is set to meet with a genetics team on October 17th to determine how to proceed surgically once chemo is complete.  Radiation may also be needed but as for now our focus is getting through the bi-weekly chemotherapy treatments.  We were told symptoms of treatment are like most, hair loss, nausea, mouth sores and extreme fatigue.  So many of you have reached out and we can't thank you enough for all your support as this has been a bit of a whirlwind for us.  Continue to keep our family in your prayers as we know this will not be a quick or easy journey to take.  We are trying to keep life as normal for Drew and Lucy as possible so reaching out to them will be important as there may be times that Betsey just isn't feeling up to going non stop with them.  Betsey's sisters are setting up a calendar for people to provide transportation to treatment and meals, etc. So reach out to them if you are interested in helping. Normally, we are not ones to ask for help, we will be accepting of any assistance in this case. Although there are days we know Betsey will be tired and feel crummy, she still has a sense of humor and plans to keep that intact as much as possible. Although we know friends and loved ones need to also process this in their own way, the focus is to live a happy and normal as possible life as we walk through some dark days. We have definitely struggled with the diagnosis but we are hopeful in the treatment plan that has been set.

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