Sue McFarlin

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place.  For those of you who do not know, I have been diagnosed with Invasive Ductal Carcinoma stage 2.   The cancer is ggressive but my Oncologist Dr Perkins is very otimistic about my treatment and cure. I recently had a PET scan that shows no cancer in any other parts of my body other than my right breast.  This was a huge relief for me.  I also have a lump in my right armpit but  the biopsy showed no cancer in tha area.  I will have 8 weeks of chemo every other week and then 12 weeks of chemo every week in an effort to shrink the cancer before surgery.  My tumor is currently about 4.9 cm and anything over 5 requires daily radiation which I do not want because it makes reconstruction much more difficult.  I will have 2 seperate surgeries to remove each breast and then we will,begin the process of reconstruction.  I was told this will be about a 2 year process.  I had my first chemo treatment last Thursday and everything went really well with the exception of some nausea.  I have no doubt that I will beat this so I can enjoy my retirement and spend time with family and friends.  For now cancer is just a nuisance in my life.