Wendy Arrache

November 16th, 2016 I was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.  It was a shock to the system considering I had other issues with that area of my body, but none of the problems ever came back as the C word.  It was a miracle how the cancer was found though.  It was a mysterious rash that was sort of like a smoke signal to the doctors that something was wrong with my left breast.  The persistent rash eventually led the specialist to be more thorough in their testing.  Ultimately an ultrasound found what looked to be a 9mm lesion, however after an MRI was done, the doctor saw some other suspicious areas.  My surgeon recommended a modified radical mastectomy, which involved removing the breast and the lining of the chest muscles, along with 12 lymph nodes.  Once the mastectomy was complete, the specimen went to pathology, only to find out that I had 4 tumors in my breast and the largest one was 5 cm, another was 2 cm, and the other 2 were 1 cm.  Plus 3 lymph nodes were positive for cancer.  That was another shock.  I wanted to be angry at the medical people for not finding this earlier when I had my yearly mamogram.   But being angry wouldn't do any good.  I have some wonderful family members that belong to the medical profession that really put things into perspective for me (thank you Lord for those resources).  Sometime these things happen, and imaging can fail.
I just want to say that the Lord has put some amazing people in my life to love me and support me through this crazy thing!  It is going to be okay, and my motto is "I'm still here"!  Like my Grandma Rose use to say "everything is going to be okay", and my favorite scripture says "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" Phil 4:13.