Surprised In A Loving Way

Today was a busy day for me. I was asked to make cupcakes and nachos for a back to school gathering in the neighborhood. Those of you who know me, know that cooking is my passion. So I also whipped up a tray of turkey wraps to go along with the menu.

It turned out that this back to school gathering was actually a benefit for me. I had no clue!
Thanks to my Ponderosa PTO friends and neighbors who made this possible. It's 11:57 p.m. and I still haven't counted my donations...It's almost like I want to freeze the moment. I am so grateful for the donations given tonight, but I am even more grateful for the love that this special group of friends has for me. Thanks to all of you who made this possible. I am still on an emotional high and I think it's going to last a while.

Somebody is praying for me!

Hello all...I was just online viewing the results from my chest x-ray and ultrasound taken on last week. Well...the positives outweighed the negatives. Some of the masses and nodes have decreased in size since March which means the therapy is working along with your prayers. Only a couple of the nodes showed a slight increase in size. As for the chest x-rays...all still looks good... lungs, heart etc.,. I have more test scheduled for August and that will be the next time I see the doctor with more positive results. God is good! Keep on praying family and friends.

No Traffic Jams

My husband and I had a pleasant ride to the medical center this morning. No traffic jams or nothing...thank goodness for holidays! I had an appointment for an ultrasound at 8:00 a.m. and I was out of there by 9:40...another reason to be thankful for holidays. As soon as I signed in and sat down, they called my name. I didn't even get a chance to warm my seat good. I brought books, my journal and magazines to read while I wait, but didn't get a chance to get a glance at them. The doctor only scheduled a view of the right breast and the lymph nodes. They will compare it to the one they did in March. I tried to get results out of the radiologist at the time she was probing, but she was too busy telling me about her vacation to Disney World. Once I get them, I will let you know.

Update

It's been almost 4 months since my diagnosis. I have had numerous test, a change in my eating habits, I've lost a few pounds and I have had genetic and nutritional counseling. Last week I had a follow up visit with the doctor. He really didn't have too much news to make me say "yippee." He said he should have more results in a couple of months when more test are done. It usually takes about 6 to 7 months before you can see the progress the treatment is making. My genetic test did come back negative. I kind of figured it would though. The nutritional counseling was very good and informational. I had a chance to let them know about all the supplements I have included in my treatment plan.

As for me...I feel great! I'm in good spirits and I'm remaining positive through it all. Along this journey, I have the best support system ever! My kids keep me smiling and laughing. I love my family...they have truly been there for me and they are taking good care of me. I never ever have to worry about a ride to my appointments...Kenny & Sham are always ready and willing. Thank yall & I love you much! Until next time...

Things Changed

It was a Wednesday morning, Shamarion and I just finished packaging up some hammered shape cookies that was to be delivered by noon that day. After making the delivery that afternoon, I called the doctor to see if he had received results of the biopsy. He said "no, let me make a phone call and check it out and I'll call you right back." He did. He called back in about 10 minutes. His response was, "Mrs. Bailey, It's not good." I said what you do you mean? He was rambling on about something and all I heard was carcinoma. I had heard that word before and knew it meant cancer. He was a bit antsy and seemed more nervous than I did. I remember asking him questions he couldn't answer. He then referred me to someone that could answer my questions. He made the appointment himself for that afternoon at 2:00 and Shamarion and I were there right on time. This doctor looked at my reports and was in awe. He said "ma'am, I'm not going to cut any corners with you, at your age I recommend a double mastectomy." I'm still in shock about all this, so I'm sitting, looking out the window, kind of listening, not really because I knew Shamarion was already zeroing in and listening at every little thing, not missing a beat. Well we decided to leave there and get a second opinion. As we were on our way out, the front desk nursed asked, what do I plan to do? At that moment all I could do was cry. This was for real, but in the back of my mind I'm still saying to myself that they made a mistake. I didn't know what to say. I think I said something like, I'll call you or something. I don't even remember. I just wanted to leave. We got in the car and drove home. Shamarion was saying how we were going to call and make an appointment somewhere else. I was like fine...let's do it! We went home, she left, the kids came home, she came back. When she came back she had 3 books. A journal, A book for entertainment reading and a book on juicing. Now I thought she had gone home and there she was out shopping. She made the call to to set up the appointment for the second opinion and they called us back within an hour. The next day we made an appointment with an oncologist. The doctor had given me copies of my biopsy report.

I brought them home and placed them on a stack of papers, not even worrying about what's on it. A few days later I decided to pick up the papers and look at them. I was secretly hoping that the report would have the wrong name on it. Boy was I wrong. There my name was...as big as day. And that's when things changed.

A Trip To The Doctor

The pain lasted about a week. It was a Sunday night when it became so intense, that I had to sleep sitting up. The next morning I went to the doctor. He asked me all kinds of questions. One what really got me was that..."do you think someone hugged you too tight?" Because it seems like the pain may be in your rib cage. "No, I answered. He said, "maybe you pulled a muscle." The only thing I could think of was that I had been bringing in firewood pretty often, piling it all in the left arm and maybe that's why I was hurting. Maybe I had pulled a muscle doing that. Well, the doctor scheduled me for an x-ray and a mammogram. I was okay with the xray, but the mammo...NOT! I Always heard "horrow" (country girl slaang) stories about how they hurt and how uncomfortable they are. I was not excited about that. But needless to say I made the appointment anyway. Well, I get in the very same day for the xray. The doctor called the next morning and the xray turned out fine. He didn't see anything that was causing me any pain. Now this pain I was having...remember I said it was so intense on Sunday...well before I could leave the doctors office, I could barely feel the pain. It was very mild.

My mammo was scheduled a couple of days later. For you all that know me well, know that I don't have time to sit anywhere too long. It was bugging me that I had to take some time out to do this. You know I always have a zillion and one things on my plate. So when I made the appointment, the nurse said it would be no longer than a couple of hours. Great! I thought I would at least be gone by 11:00 because my appointment was at 9:00. I thought I will be in and out in know time. I was so nervous that day, not because of what they may find because I was just so sure they were not gonna find anything and I was just wasting my time being there. I was just nervous about the mammo itself. I was so terrified of them smashing my boobs too hard. Well, while I was in the waiting room for them to examine the pics they took during the mammo, I received a txt...it read "well, I'm in the lobby just in case you pass out!" I laughed with tears in my eyes. It was my angel, my sister Shamarion. She knew I was going that day even though I tried so hard not to tell her. I really didn't want her to know, number one because I knew she had so many other things she could have been doing, besides being there holding my hand and number two I didn't want her all in my business :o). But little does she know, I was so glad she came to be with me that day.

Well, what I thought was going to be a 2 hour visit turned into a three and half hour visit. The nurse came into the waiting room and told me she need to take pics all over again. Then I had to sit and wait again. After a while the nurse came back in and said they wanted to redo the ultrasound because they want to make sure of something. So off to the ultrasound room I went once again. Shamarion is still there waiting patiently on me to finish. The ultrasound was complete and it was confirmed that they found a mass in my right breast. Well, I'm thinking okay it's probably nothing. The nurse came in and said, that I needed to schedule a biopsy. The following Thursday I was in for my biopsy and yes, Shamarion was right there until I finished. That was a little nerve racking, but I got through that. We finish up there, I leave ice packed down and a sheet of instructions. Still thinking...nothings there. I go home and tell the kids because they are so anxiously waiting to here what's happening from the first doctors visit. So I explain to them what went on and that I'm waiting on the results from the biopsy. Still, I'm thinking nothing's there.