Rollercoaster

2011 has really rocked my world. 

It has been a year full of fun and exciting events. We bought our first house in January. Emily graduated from high school. Alisha and Tyler got engaged (well, technically that was 2010), but we’ve had all sorts of fun parties and trips for them since then.

But, it has also been a year full of tough times. Probably the most difficult year for me personally. April 27th happened, and we lost our good friend, Marcus. I will never forget that day or the days and weeks that followed it. Travis and I have both lost one grandfather each, but never a friend our age like that, especially in such an unexpected, terrible way.

May came along, and we got busy fixing or replacing the stuff in our house damaged by the lightning. And then June got here full of wedding showers, parties, vacations and travel. And just when I was starting to feel like life was getting back to normal again…

…my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I guess life is just like that, full of ups and downs. 

I took the news pretty hard when I first found out. Cancer is a scary thing to think about, especially when it’s someone in your own family. 

Mom had her yearly mammogram done before we left for Fripp Island, but when she got back home the next week, she had a letter in the mail saying they wanted her to come back in for a follow-up. Mom was hopeful that it was just a benign lump, but we had to wait until her appointment to find out for sure. She was referred to Dr. Winchester at St. Vincent’s, who did a biopsy in her office that day. It took several days for the results to come back, but we finally found out that it was indeed breast cancer. Mom was then scheduled for an MRI and another appointment with the doctor. 

Now all of this happened over the course of probably a 2 week period, so it was a lot of hurry up and wait. I think that was one of the most stressful parts…just waiting for results and waiting for news. Probably the hardest part, though, was that I was up in Huntsville, and EVERY time Mom had an appointment, I was scheduled to work that day. I felt terrible that I couldn’t go with her, and I just felt disconnected from everything that was going on. It was eerily similar to how Travis and I felt after the tornadoes came through when we were stuck in north Alabama so far away from our friends in Tuscaloosa.

It turns out that Mom has triple negative breast cancer. Before a few weeks ago, I didn’t know that there were different types of breast cancer. I just assumed that they were all pretty much the same. According to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation, only about 10-20% of all breast cancers are triple negative. Triple negative means that estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors, and human epidermal growth factor (HER2) receptors are not present. Most breast cancers are hormone (estrogen or progesterone) driven, so medicines that target those hormone receptors can be given to fight the cancer. With triple negative breast cancer, none of those receptors are present, so certain drugs are ineffective. That sometimes makes triple negative breast cancer harder to treat, depending on the stage it’s in. Coincidentally, Mom has a good friend who had triple negative breast cancer a little over 5 years ago, and she is doing great today!

Mom had another appointment with Dr. Winchester last Friday, and again I wasn’t able to go. (This time, I was at the beach with the girls…not working). The end result of the appointment was that Mom was scheduled for a partial mastectomy the following week (which turns out to have been yesterday). When Mom called to tell me the news, I got upset again because I was supposed to work yesterday and today. Luckily, I have an awesome boss who rearranged my scheduled so that I could work Monday and Wednesday and have the rest of the week off. 

So, I worked 12 hours on Wednesday, went straight to church, and we packed and drove to Trussville. Got here around 11:30 PM, and woke up at 4 AM to go with Mom to the hospital. She had to be there at 5 AM. The surgery went very well overall. The tumor was 2.6 cm (a little bigger than Dr. Winchester thought), but the preliminary report showed that all of the lymph nodes were clear! Yay!!! We’ll have to wait a few days for the final report on that though. Mom (and Jenn) spent the night in the hospital last night, and we brought her home this morning around lunch time. Right now, she is sleeping (since you never get much sleep in the hospital!), but she is doing really well. 

Mom is supposed to go back to see Dr. Winchester on Tuesday for a follow-up appointment, and then she meets with her oncologist in about 2 weeks. Right now, they are thinking that she will have to do about 5-6 months of chemo (every other week), and a month of radiation after that. And then, hopefully she will be through and CANCER FREE! 

Mom has had a really great attitude about all of this so far. She is handling it better than I am for sure. She has been upbeat and positive about the “Beast” as she has nicknamed it. I think being positive when you are faced with something like that is a huge part of the battle. It’s going to be a long road ahead, but my mom is strong, and I know she can get through this.  

If you want to send my mom a card, I know she would appreciate it. She has really enjoyed reading all of the cards she’s received so far. You can call, text, or facebook me for her address if you don’t have it. 

Also, please pray for my mom and for all of us right now. If you are looking for specific things to pray for, here are some things I’ve been praying about:

1. Pray that this cancer will be taken away and not come back
2. Pray that Mom will continue to have a positive attitude about all of this
3. Pray for Dr. Winchester and all of Mom’s doctors and nurses that she will receive the best care possible
4. Pray that this will bring my family even closer together and that we will all rally around Mom during this fight
5. Pray that we will all have stronger faith in God throughout this process
6. Pray that we won’t take for granted the good health that we do have every day
7. Pray that we can encourage others and be a good example to others who are going through similar struggles

Thanks to everyone so far for your concern and love you’ve shown to us. If I haven’t had a chance to tell you personally about all of this, please don’t take it the wrong way. It has been a whirlwind month and week in particular. 

I found this quote from Kathy Cawton that I really liked:

“I will remember that, to find the joy in rainbows…I must endure the rain. And I will remember always that…while I may have cancer…cancer does not have me.”

And another quote from Lawrence Leshan:

“Getting cancer can become the beginning of living. The search for one’s own being, the discovery of the life one needs to live, can be one of the strongest weapons against disease.”

I’ll be sure to keep you updated about how Mom is doing throughout the upcoming weeks and months. I have a feeling that this “Beast” doesn’t know who it’s messing with!!