Well, it all started last month with an abnormal mammogram. Invasive lobular carcinoma in the right breast. Sounds awful, but they say it's low grade and probably stage one. No worries. A lumpectomy, probably a course of radiation, perhaps hormone therapy. We've watched friends and family handle that and having those role models, it seemed doable. Done and dusted.
But an MRI showed two more highly suspicious masses in the left breast, so we needed to re-evaluate. Second opinion. More appointments with the surgeon and medical oncologist here in Santa Barbara, more biopsies and now we wait. If the most recent biopsies show that it hasn't gone into the lymph glands, we'll go ahead with a double mastectomy with reconstruction (during same operation) followed by tamoxifen for 5 years or more. If it has passed into the lymph, still go with the double mastectomy, but put off reconstruction until after radiation.
However, all indications to date are that the cancer has not spread beyond the breast, so that's what we hope to hear when we get the biopsy results sometime this week. And so it goes. Reality becomes something different. Just one step at a time and not getting too far ahead of ourselves to take on worries that don't even, and may never, exist. Both family and friends have been tremendously supportive, loving and caring, and that makes this much more sane.
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