Hi Folks-

We know there are many people rooting for Theresa; as she begins what may be the biggest fight of -or- for her life.  She has been able to update different people to different extents during this last week but at times, it can be overwhelming since she found out she had breast cancer. That said, we have decided to create a few platforms, to help keep everyone informed of her progress the best way. This way, only a few places can be updated and anyone can view the information when it’s convenient for them. Plus there are a lot of important people to Theresa and she wants to feel everyone knows what is happening, without her having to worry if she missed updating someone

This site will be managed and controlled, by Theresa, but also with the help of two of the most amazing ladies and her two best friends; Wendy and Ginny. This way; if Theresa becomes too sick or not able to update the page, they have access and can do it for her.

Diagnosis

This all started with what Theresa thought was a poke or irritation from her bra Sunday morning 4/24, when picking up Abigail and her life will never be the same

As diligent as Theresa is, she made a doctor appointment for 5/4, to further make sure everything was ok, when soreness and swelling didn’t go away. At that point, her doctor sent Theresa to mammogram and if needed ultrasound, to be absolutely sure, but at the time, her doctor wasn’t super concerned; but knew Theresa had dense breasts so it was decided this route to be 100% sure. Her physician thought it was also simple irritation or soreness from what Theresa previously described.

5/6 was the day Theresa found out her breast were nothing close to ok, after the mammogram was completed. Further observation through ultrasound and three way core-needle biopsies in three separate locations (2 masses and affecting 2 lymph nodes) in the right breast, confirmed the diagnosis.

Official name of Theresa’s cancer is called :

 Invasive Ductal Carcinoma Breast Cancer
 Stage 2 - Poorly differentiated

😢 

What does all that mean…..

·         Invasive means the cancer has grown outside of the duct, in the spot it started. As this writing, medical team is telling Theresa the cancer is confirmed in 3 of the locations they did the biopsy. Which means the cancer has at least spread to the lymph nodes. You also may see or hear certain words used to describe the stage of the breast cancer:

Local: The cancer is confined within the breast.
Regional: The lymph nodes, primarily those in the armpit, are involved. (This is where Theresa is at)
Distant: The cancer is found in other parts of the body as well.

·        Ductal simply means that is where the cancer began; in the milk ducts and spread from there.

·         Stage 2 Was explained to Theresa this is because it has spread.

·         Grade Theresa’s cancer is “poor” or Grade 3 classifications; which is cancer that lacks normal features, tend to grow and spread faster  (the most aggressive variety of DCIS cells)

·         The only person Theresa knew had breast cancer, within her family, was her maternal grandmother and since Theresa does have dense breasts and “scare” before of masses, she decided a few years ago, on her own, to test for BRCA. Both 1 and 2 were NEGATIVE. So, there is some mutation occurring in the family, but she is not positive for BRCA1 or 2 or any of the ones they test for. This is good.

Treatment

Theresa plans to set up and starting meeting with her medical team the week of 5/11 and determine the next steps. It seems pretty positive there will be surgery and chemotherapy but until she meets with the doctors, specific details will need to wait for an update