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. This is all new to us and we continue to figure it out one day at a time. Thank you for visiting.
Bear with me... this is a lot. If you know me, my story telling gets a little long winded.
Let's go back to November 17th, 2022. A week before this is when all of this started. I noticed a lump on my left breast. November 17th, is when I met with my OB/GYN. Her words were "I'm pretty sure it is not cancer" "it's probably just a cyst". Thank God. That's a relief. She scheduled me for a mammogram, almost a month out. I joked with my husband that maybe I'm growing a third boob, because the lump grew. It doubled in size.
Thanks to our lovely North Dakota weather, it was pushed out a week. That brings us to December 20th. I am 37, mammograms are not in my wheelhouse. So, I was quickly educated on the process. It's great. The Doc was instantly interested in what she saw. She explained that she saw a cyst, and a dark mass. That day I went through 4 biopsies and an MRI.
Onto December 23rd, 2022. The patient portal is a blessing and a curse all in one. I am a Detective. We lunch together almost every day at 11:30. We bounce cases off each other and talk shop. As I'm situating my lunch, I have a message. My pathology is back. Ok. I look through the results and see metastatic carcinoma. We are cops, not doctors. All of us go to the Google. I don't know what that is, but I'm sure it is not good. The result hit me like a brick wall. I could not breathe. It is breast cancer. Wow. Oh, and it is in your lymph node under your arm.
I am then informed that I have Triple Negative Breast Cancer. It is very aggressive. Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) are tumors that test negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, or excess HER2 protein. This means it cannot be treated with hormones. It is hard to treat.
My days run together, but I did do another MRI. Along with ultrasounds, blood draws, and an echocardiogram. The MRI found that there are multiple spots in my left breast, and multiple lymph nodes in that area that are cancer positive.
I met with my oncologist. Which was a God send, because the unknowns are very hard to swallow. He is confident, he tells me what the plan is. I start chemo on January 9th, 2023. 24 weeks, 1 time a week, for 5 ½ hours a day. Once that is complete, as soon as I’m able, I will have a full mastectomy. After that, I move on to radiation, every day, for six weeks. Ok.. this is a lot. But, we have a plan. Let’s go with it.
All we’re waiting on is the PET scan. This has weighed on my mind since I found out. Where else is it? I have a headache; it’s in my brain. I have the same elbow pain I’ve had since I delivered papers; its elbow cancer. It is truly horrible not knowing what is in your own body.
January 6th, 2023. It’s the big one. I go in for my PET scan. Compared to the other testing this is a breeze, they run sugar water intravenously, you slide around in the tube, easy. (Although I was told that I would be radioactive for about 6 hours.) I ask when I expect the results, he says if you have a patient portal, today more than likely. Great, round two with the patient portal.
The results come. I’ve prayed, cried, had so much anxiety for this moment. I begin scrolling through. Brain, heart, lungs, are all negative. Then I see there is metastatic spots in my bones, specifically by the L2 vertebrae in my back. There is also a spot on my liver. They do not know what this is. Just crushing. It took me half of the day to process this information.
I spoke to my oncologist’s nurse. They plan to go forward with chemo on Monday. Ultimately, I’m up for more rounds of testing. I have another ultrasound scheduled Wednesday to try to identify what is on my liver. To be followed with a biopsy of one of the spots on my bones. I spoke with MAYO today. I will talk with them again on Monday, to find out if we are going to move treatment to Rochester.
I just have to keep going. That’s all we can do. I feel that I’m naturally a fighter, but when it is your own body that is the enemy, it is hard. I have my moments, but I try to keep them brief. A wise officer once told me we are never out of the fight, and I for one am ALL IN. Please pray friends, send positive vibes. We appreciate that.
To the people who have reached out, sent thoughtful gifts, and prayed for me I appreciate you more than you know. From here on out, my family and very close friend will try to keep an update going.
Side note, ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF!!! If you feel something is wrong with your body, push, and push hard. I've had this in my body since November and have yet to have any treatment. Ladies, go get your mammograms. We have one shot at this life. Also, this has put so much in perspective for me. So many things, that absolutely do not matter. The small arguments, money, material things. We do not have one possession in this house that we would keep over good health. I just want to live. That's it. I do not say this to be mushy, I just appreciate every moment I have. I've been beyond blessed with a beautiful life, and an amazing family. I am not done yet and refuse to let this take me.
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