Rosemary DiGiovanni

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. ❤ Hello family & friends!   Welcome to my Caring Bridge Journal. I hope to provide you with some background on how I came to be here & also to post all my future updates. In January of 2020 I had my annual routine mammogram. At that time something didn't look quite right. An ultrasound was done on the spot but there was no red flag to indicate anything further needed to be done at that time. However, I was given a 7 month follow up appt.  I returned in July for a repeat scan on the right breast. My radiologist immediately called me into her room & advised me she didn't like what she saw. She texted Dr Jennifer Sabol, an oncologic breast surgeon & then gave me a copy of my disc. Dr Sabol called me 2 hours later & my sister Diane delivered the mammogram disc to her office. The surgeon called me the next evening. It was a Friday. I had my initial evaluation with her that Tuesday.  She scheduled me for a steriotactic breast biopsy & a breast MRI.  I was diagnosed with “Invasive Lobular Cancer" which it turns out is only seen in about 12% of all breast cancers. To make a very long story a bit shorter, I was scheduled for a lumpectomy and biopsy of some breast lymph nodes.  The surgery was performed at Lankenau on August 28th which was a day shy of one month from the repeat mammogram.  A few days ago my surgeon called to say that the pathology report of the removed tumor shows the cancer was larger, more aggressive & more extensive than was thought. The specimen itself was quite large.  She had removed about 5 cm of tissue along with some additional tissue hoping to "get it all" and have "clean margins" but all the margins were positive for cancer as well as one of the lymph nodes. She recommends my having a right breast mastectomy with additional lymph node removal. In the past month, I've seen a radiation oncologist, a medical (for chemo) oncologist, a genetics counselor & I've had numerous studies done. I'm scheduled to see my surgeon next week on Sept 10 & to also have a bone scan & CT scans of my lungs, abdomen and Pelvis.  My surgery is scheduled for September 25th at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, PA This site is a non-profit organization & any donations you may elect to make are optional and will help them to operate their platform. I welcome all of your prayers, love, support, positive comments & your humor. I look forward to keeping you posted and reading your messages.  Closing Note:  My dad is now 101 & 4 mos old.  He is NOT AWARE of my diagnosis or surgery, etc..   At this point in time please do not mention this if speaking to him, visiting with him or in any written correspondence.  Stay well.  Love & Peace, Mom, Roe, Rosemary, Mrs D & Grammy XOXO