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Michelle’s Story

Site created on December 29, 2019

Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We very much appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.

Michelle's story began this past October, which ironically is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Consider us aware :). Near the end of the month she discovered a lump in one breast as a result of a self-check which was prompted by itching and some pain in that area. At that point we immediately scheduled a doctor's visit.

A week before Thanksgiving she received confirmation that she had Stage 2a Her2+ ductal invasive carcinoma of the breast.

So began our journey of assessing an appropriate treatment plan. Given Michelle's medical history (kidney recipient from her mother and Type II diabetes), it was unanimously agreed upon by all parties that a double mastectomy along with 3-6 months of chemo would be the best course of action for the long-term future.

The surgery was scheduled three weeks after confirmation of the carcinoma, which brings us to tomorrow (December 30th). She will undergo the procedure at 11:50am at Kaiser Irvine at Sand Canyon, with a scheduled operation time of three hours plus extra recovery time from the anesthesia. The ideal plan is to have her stay overnight to ensure all goes smooth and well in the post-op hours.

Michelle would like to thank everyone from the bottom of her heart for the outpouring of love and support. Our family is extremely thankful for the wonderful support system that we have been blessed with.

*** For those who are asking, we appreciate the thought but please be aware that we are not accepting donations at this time and we have not set up for any donations on this site.

Newest Update

Journal entry by Sean Swanson — May 22, 2020

Michelle has finished her 3 month chemo sessions! She will no longer be on Taxol and move strictly to Herceptin every 3 weeks. This is and was part of the initial gameplan so we always love when a plan comes together!

She has been so strong and positive during all of this! We do appreciate the the continued love and support, for both of us frankly.

Next month we get to celebrate her being able to seafood! We would love to eventually set time aside to see her friends and family for a Boiling Crab feast!

Keep calm & fight on!

Read More of the journal titled "May 22, 2020"

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