Lisa Lu's Cancer Blog
Meeting the doctors
I met with the surgeon today and it was both relieving and worrying at the same time….I have both invasive and non invasive cancer that is either stage 2 or 3, which will be determined once I have the surgery. The most shocking thing he said was that I probably have had it for about 2 years. It’s a fast growing cancer but we still have some time to make decisions. The average age for what I have is 63….I think I curved it a little ) With all the numerous spots I have that is cancerous we are looking at a mastectomy. I will have an MRI on Friday to check my other side which may help me decide whether to just do a double mastectomy….struggling with this decision either way because I don’t want to go through this again so please pray for clarity as my mind is very much foggy right now with everything going on and I just want to make the right decision for myself….
The next step is I meet the rest of my team…I meet with my oncologist tomorrow and immediately following I meet with the plastic surgeon to talk about reconstruction. If I am lucky they will be able to do it the same day as surgery…and finally, we are looking at surgery the week before Christmas…I will only be in the hospital for a day or two depending on how everything goes. Because it’s a mastectomy situation it will take me a while to heal afterwards and then from there we will decide about chemotherapy and radiation and what treatments are best after that.
I am very confident with the team of doctors I have and have heard nothing but good things all around. They have my best interest in mind and are very supportive. Heck, even the surgeon got a little choked up while we were talking during our meeting (don’t tell him I told you that), but I am just glad he is not just a medical robot spitting out medical mumbo jumbo, he made sure I understood everything he was saying and that I knew he understood how I felt about everything. Now just to make the ultimate decision, one or two…..prayers please!
Thanks to all my prayer warriors out there! ) xoxo
Awareness....
I can’t help but acknowledge that if it weren’t for my annual exam this probably wouldn’t have been caught so soon. I knew about one small lump but didn’t think much of it because it was so small…it frustrates me that now they changed the annual exam to every three years…if I were you I would still go every year because even though it comes back healthy, it can obviously change within a year!
Also, I know they told us this in health class but I never did it….please check yourself every month…just do it in the shower and if you feel anything that feels hard or hurts when you run over it go get it checked out. I didn’t do this as much as I should and didn’t realize what I was feeling wasn’t normal. Maybe I’m the only one and my blonde took over, but I wasn’t recognizing it for what it could be and now what it is. My mom hadn’t been to the doctor in years and the day I had my biopsy I dialed the phone for her and set up an appointment…don’t be scared and if you have a woman in your family hesitant to go see her doctor, just give her a little nudge. It’s worse if you let your health take the back burner.
Be aware of your breasts….go to the doctor every year no matter what they say….and check yourself every month.
Ok, I’m off my soap box now, just had to let it out
As mothers we ignore our symptoms, and tend to our kids. When my doctors told me I have had this for 5 years, it made me sad, but it also made me realize how strong mom’s are, and how we just keep going no matter what.
Posted on Its funny you say that because today at my appointment with the surgeon they said I have probably had it for two years!
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