April 15th - Part 2

Kelley says......................................


My appointment to see the breast surgeon was at 6:00 pm in Fort Worth. We dropped the girls off at a friend's house and then we headed that way. I have been so nervous and anxious for the last few weeks that I feel slightly nauseated all the time. So, I had been too nervous to eat that day and so we were going to go check in first and then walk down to Subway so I could try to eat a little something.


At this point in this journey, I was still somehow thinking this was all a big mistake. Surely this just can't be true. Maybe somehow I misunderstood them when they called me that day with the biopsy results. But to even say out loud that I have cancer. Well now, that just doesn't even sound right.


We walk in and I sign in and give them my paperwork and insurance card and all that. There was another lady in the waiting room. A nurse walks up to the receptionist and asks if I am the other lady. The receptionist turns away from me and whispers to the nurse that the other lady is in the waiting room and that I am the "Cancer Patient". I felt at that moment that my life was never going to be the same, ever.


We walked over to Subway and got something to eat and I suddenly completely lost my appetite. If I thought I had been in shock before, I was really in shock now. I look at myself and think how can there be cancer in my body, I feel fine. All of this made us so anxious. Once I finally got into the room, it seemed like hours before the doctor came in. She came in, examined me and then it was time for the conversation we were so nervous about.


Luckily, the good news is that she "thinks" that I caught this early. That is the good news. Unfortunately, I need 5 other tests to come back with a good report in order to have the least surgery and minimal treatment. The next step is to have a genetic test done. Next Friday, I have an MRI. I will have some kind of surgery the 1st or 2nd week in May. And we won't know what stage this is or if it has spread until the pathology reports come back after the surgery. We do know that it is invasive but they don't think it is aggressive. They believe with the results so far that it is a Grade 1 slow growing cancer.


 And if you are a woman reading this, keep in mind that this did NOT show up on my mammogram!! My mammogram was FINE!!!! PLEASE DO YOUR SELF-BREAST EXAMINATIONS!! EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND YOU THINK IT IS A WASTE OF TIME!!!!  I TRULY BELIEVE THAT BECAUSE I TOOK THE EXTRA 15 SECONDS OUT OF MY LIFE TO "FEEL THE TA-TAS" THAT I WILL LIVE AND NOT DIE!


PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, CHECK THOSE BOOBIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!