Nicole Langlois Kicking Cancer in the A$$

For the last year and a half I had been struggling with my knees. Balance and gate issues kept me from going up steps without a handrail and going down stairs one step at a time. 


A few rounds of physical therapy and a meeting or two with an orthopedic knee specialist led me to October 2016. My knees just weren't getting any better so I went back to the knee doctor who ordered an MRI. The results of that MRI shows some discoloration in my bone marrow in the right femur and he referred me to an orthopedic oncologist. I really wasn't worried about it. I was happy to maybe finally get some answers. 


My meeting with the orthopedic oncologist was scheduled for December 1 in the morning. A friend from work was with me. That morning was one I will not soon forget. After a series of X-rays and tests the doctor told me that she thought I had a tumor. Bone Cancer (or so we thought)? Really? How did we miss this?  I was never tired, I didn't have other side effects-what the hell?


It has been a whirlwind since then. Lots of tests, mom and dad pretty much moved in and I had surgery on December 7 to stabilize my right femur. 


After getting more test results we have been told that it wasn't bone cancer that started it. It is breast cancer. Really? I'm 37!  The zinger is that the cancer has spread to my bones and my liver so the doctors are being very aggressive-a good thing, I think. 


It's triple negative kind of cancer meaning it is estrogen receptor-negative, progesterone receptor-negative and HER2-negative. This will help while selecting my chemo cocktail. 



So why are we here? Well it's pretty exhausting filling in everyone with the updates. Takes a toll on me emotionally as well. So a friend recommended this site. You can find updates here and learn about what I'm going through, if your interested. 


Please know that I am strong, brave, courageous, I have faith and I will beat this.