This chapter of my journey began the first part of March when I got a prompting to get a physical. It did not seem logical as Covid 19 was starting to hit hard but I followed the prompting and went in for a physical on March 13 2020. I was over for a mammogram so Doctor King set one up for me, I had mammogram on March 17th. On the 21st of March my mammogram results came back with troublesome spots so I was scheduled for a breast ultra sound on the 24th. When I heard that more testing was needed I felt at that moment breast cancer may be my journey. When I went in for my breast ultra sound I was told it did not look good so they would like to do a breast and lymphoid biopsy. I went in for the biopsy on the 25th. A few days later on the 27th I got a call around noon from Dr. King, my primary care doctor, he told me that I have invasive ductal carcinoma (breast cancer) stage 2. My cancer journey officially began March 27th.
I was put in touch with a nurse navigator (Kathy) who will be helping me manage my treatment. Dr. King referred me to doctors who had great reviews but they were all located over by him in Sachse where we live previous to USVI, about 45 minutes away from our current home. After much thought, I decided to look for an oncologist and surgeon closer to home. In doing online searches I found a surgeon that I really wanted to look at for surgery, Melissa Kinney. I got a call from Kathy and she referred me to an oncologist and in our conversation she mentioned this oncologist who worked with Melissa Kinney. At this point I knew I was on the right track for my cancer care tem. When I researched the oncologist I realized she was in the same group as Dr. Michael Park, the oncologist that we had seen when Scott had heard results and thought he may have cancer/ lymphoma. Scott does not have cancer; his journey is still unknown. When I found out that Dr. Park was in this group and I realized he also did breast cancer I wanted to see if I could see him. I talked with the scheduler of the first referred oncologist who talked with Dr. Park’s nurse and he agreed to see me. So the team began to fall into place.
April flew by, with multiple appointments gearing up for my battle with breast cancer:
April 6th- I went to see Dr. Park to have my blood drawn and to discuss all the options for treatment. I was also able to have a video call with Dr. Kinney to discuss her role and what treatment plan I wanted.
April 16th I had a nuclear bone scan.
April 20th Dr. Park appointment to confirm treatment plan.
April 21st I Pre-registered for surgery as well as had a breast MRI.
April 23rd was my port placement surgery.
After my port placement surgery, I started feeling like something may not be right, I thought maybe it was an infection, so I called Dr. Kinney and she put me on antibiotics to be safe. Today my pain is less, I am so glad I called Dr. Kinney.
Tomorrow, April 27th, my chemotherapy starts. I can’t help but be reminded of a scripture, Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct they path.” With an open heart, I will continue to put all my trust in the Lord and his plan.
Well things definately changed since I wrote last post.
I ended up back it the hospital, icu, for 6 days with an infection and another surgery to remove part of my left flap. They said it was about 25% .
After getting out of hospital a picc line was put in to administer antibiotics at home for 5 weeks.
I had about a 1 1/2" area of my incision open up when that was finally closing after about 3 weeks. 2 days after completely closed a qtip size whole opened. This opening never closed so on September 8th I went in for another surgery on left breast to close hole up. First they put in blue dye Dr Hubbard followed dye and cleaned out all area then closed everything. This time incision was opened about half way not all the way. While in there Dr Hubbard also separated skin from tissue on upper breast which was causing pain and tightness. So far things seem to be going well. I am apprehensive and can't wait until surgery is a month behind me so I can trust things won't go wrong again
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