Carey Schmidt "Careys Got This"

First post: Dec 16, 2018 Latest post: Jun 23, 2020
“Careys Got This – We’ve Got Carey”

Hello everyone. For those that don’t know, the Schmidt family had a bit of a curveball thrown us right before Thanksgiving. Carey was diagnosed with Stage One cancer in her left breast.

BACKGROUND

Carey went in for her annual Mammogram in mid-November. After reviewing the results, they asked Carey to come in for another Mammogram. They confirmed that they might be seeing something in her left breast. An Ultrasound was performed and confirmed the spot.

At that point a Biopsy was performed. The results were confirmed that it was cancer. The doctor then requested that a MRI be performed. The results showed the cancer at 1.3 CM’s, but also showed additional white lines/spotting in both the left and right breasts.

We then took Carey in to get a MRI Biopsy. The results were that the right breast was not cancer, but most likely a cyst. The left breast found Stage 0 cancer 6 CM’s from the original cancer. While they are not sure, they are concerned the white between the two spots could be cancerous too.

The other item we need to watch is some distortion to a Sentinel lymph node.

THE TEAM

As you can imagine, we wanted to try to align Carey with the best team possible and one that Carey was comfortable – you all know Carey doesn’t have much personality. We met with both the St. Vincent’s and IU Health teams. While both remarkable, Carey was more comfortable with the IU team.

Our Oncology surgeon is Dr. Kandice Ludwig  https://medicine.iu.edu/faculty/20902/ludwig-kandice/ and our Plastic Surgeon is Dr. Mary Lester https://universityplasticsurgeons.com/meet-the-doctors/mary-lester/ . It was quite comforting to see how Carey interacted with both doctors.

We also had a nice surprise as our advocate assigned to us, Aunt JoJo (aka Jill Dodson), is the Aunt of Matt Dodson – whose wife Emily is a dear friend of Carey’s.

I also want to note that these doctors pulled some strings to get surgery scheduled in December, so Carey did not have to wait until mid to late January.

Finally – if you are reading this you are part of our team and we love you for it!

NEXT STEPS

This past Wednesday Carey completed her pre-op registration. Her surgery will be Dec. 27th starting at 12:45PM and will take approximately 4 ½ hours. Carey has elected to have a double Mastectomy. During the surgery they will test the Sentinel Lymph nodes to better determine if additional nodes need to be removed and if Carey will require chemotherapy and or radiation. So please say your prayers that the Lymph node test comes back negative.

Carey will be in the hospital for 1-2 days. She will then come home and recover. Depending on healing progress, it could be 4 – 8 weeks.

Carey will have to wait for results from surgery to determine the next path. If the Lymph nodes come back negative, she will be able to have reconstructive surgery in the next few months. If not, she will have to have chemo and/or radiation and the reconstruction phase would be the second half of 2019.

 

THANKS

I want to thank Jonathan Nalli for all his help in expediting testing and appointments is the first few weeks of this journey. I would also like to thank Matt Bohm for his introduction to Kandice Ludwig and getting us in so quickly.

Also, many thanks to Ali Richardson for being the creator or Carey’s crew to help with meals and playdates for Hadley and Tobin.

Special thanks to Kelsey, John and Laura Smitson for staying with and keeping a close eye on the kids.

 

INFO

We are so humbled by the outpouring of support and love from all of you. The first thing said is “how are you” and in the same breath “how can I help.” We truly are blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.

Carey and I heard a stat from the doctor the other day that 1 in 8 women are inflicted with Breast cancer of some type. We are fortunate that Carey is diligent with her mammograms.

As you can imagine, we are on the proverbial emotional roller coaster. While we always want to hear from you, sometimes discussing things repeatedly can become overwhelming.

I’ve started CaringBridge to try to keep you informed on developments with Carey and how she is progressing with her road to recovery. While I don’t want to dissuade anyone from reaching out to Carey or me, please use this site for the latest updates and please feel free to share your thoughts on the Well Wishes section.

I am having wristbands created that say “Careys Got This – We’ve Got Carey”. Let me now if you would like one and we’ll get one to you.

You guys know Carey – she a tough East coast gal. That being said, she needs all our love and humor we can provide her …..SO KEEP IT COMING!

Love you all – The Schmidts

CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey. Learn more about CaringBridge.

To interact with Carey’s website, sign in or register today.

By registering with CaringBridge, you will join over 300,000 people a day who are supporting friends and family members.

Sign In Or Register
SVG_Icons_Back_To_Top
Top