Thank God for genetic testing!!! Because I tested positive for the CHEK2 gene (a gene that increases my risk for breast and colon cancer), my family was able to get the genetic testing for this gene as well. There were all tested last year. My dad tested negative, my sister tested positive for the breast cancer, and my mom tested positive for breast and colon cancer. What does this mean? It means they need to get more frequent mammograms, MRIs, etc. My sister and mom both had mammograms that came back with clear results. My sister had her MRI and was called the next day with the doctors wanting her to come in for an ultrasound and possible biopsy as they "saw a small spot". Yes, panic mode! She went in for the ultrasound and had a biopsy. The doctor told her right then and there that he was 98% sure that it was cancer. A very small spot caught early. But still, when you hear those words, all you hear is cancer. When my sister called me to tell me that she was being sent to Dr. Barton, my breast surgeon. I asked her if she knew what that meant. She did. We knew she was about to be diagnosed. And she was. On May 11, 2016, (1 year, 2 months, and 15 days after my diagnosis) she was diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer. If you're like I was, I didn't know the difference in stages. This will help...
Just for reference, I was stage 3c. My sister had a lumpectomy the following week and then had to have another surgery the week after her first surgery as she did not have clear margins the first time. We thought and had hoped that she would only need surgery and radiation. We were wrong. She would need chemo, too. Ugh!
So while this was happening, my mom went for her MRI. They called her the next day and were scheduling her for an MRI guided biopsy. Seriously!?!
I was getting my PET scan at the same time mom was having her MRI biopsy. Mom got a call the next day stating that her biopsy was clear! Praise God!! I met with my oncologist 2 days after my PET scan. The first thing she said was that my scan was clear! Again, praise God!! Mom and I were over-joyed with our great news, but wow! The guilt set in as we were about to go through all of this again with my sister.
Her first chemo was June 23, the same day I met with my oncologist. After my appointment, I went over to the infusion center to see my sister. When I walked in and saw her getting her treatment, it was hard. I fought back a tear because I knew she was in the best of care. She had done well with her first 2 treatments, but found out quickly how hard chemo is on the body. It truly is something that you don't realize until you go through it. She is on a different treatment plan than I had, but no matter what that treatment is, it is rough! She receives chemo once every 3 weeks, 6 treatments in all.
So let me go back to the genetic testing. I am such an advocate for this. I understand people not wanting to know if they have a cancer gene. It is scary. I get that. However, had my family not gotten the genetic testing done, my sister would never had known she had breast cancer. She would only have gotten the mammogram, which showed nothing. She would not have been eligible for an MRI, which showed the small spot. This "small spot" was aggressive breast cancer which grew in size very quickly from the time it was discovered until it was removed. Just a few weeks time. Who knows what stage she may have been at when it was discovered, which would have been another year later because that's when she would have gotten her next mammogram.
Because I tested positive for the gene that puts me at a greater risk for breast and colon cancer, I was told to get a colonoscopy every 5 years. At this point, I'm guessing that most of you just said "yuck" or "oh man" or something close to that. Well, after suffering through a digestive disease for the first 20 couple years of my life, I was used to a doctor being at that end of my body. So the thought of a colonoscopy has never bothered me in the least. Nor does the prep. With that being said, had I not had the genetic testing, I would not have had a colonoscopy until age 50. That's 11 years for me to wait. By that time, the precancerous polyp they removed in my colon would have been cancerous as it takes around 10 years for a precancerous polyp to turn into cancer. Looks like I may have been diagnosed with colon cancer at that time. I cannot explain to you how grateful I am for genetic testing!!! If you are eligible, do it!!! It could save your life!!
And speaking of life, I celebrated my 39th birthday this week! I will always be proud to share my age because of what I've been through! I'm looking forward to celebrating 40!! Seriously!! There will be a party! (Hint, hint, hint to my family and friends reading this!) I also celebrated the one year mark since my last chemo. My birthday was July 20 and my last chemo was July 21. Here's a picture from July 21, 2015 and July 21, 2016...
I know I'm one of the very few, but losing my hair was extremely easy for me compared to it growing back in! Frustration! I chose to not get it cut or trimmed until I reached the 1 year mark. Well, I made it to June 23 and chose to get highlights. I also got it trimmed...a whole quarter of an inch. I just can't cut it. I do miss my long locks. The past 2-3 months have been less frustrating for me while it's growing back. It is great to feel the wind blowing through my hair again. I'm happy about all of this, but in the back of my mind, I feel so guilty as my sister is going through the exact opposite of me. I know she's struggling with hair loss. And I know everyone says "You're still beautiful without hair" and "it will grow back". Those are very easy words for someone to say, but those words do not help the person going through it. There truly is nothing to help that person. The only thing that helps is time when it has grown back in. I'm struggling with helping her through this because I had no issues with the hair loss and she's the exact opposite. I never want to go through chemo again, but if I could switch places with her, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
So where am I in my process?? I have my exchange surgery scheduled for August 8! This is when my plastic surgeon will remove Ethel and Lucy. Oh, I'm sorry. I should explain that Ethel and Lucy are my expanders. I'm a big fan of I Love Lucy. Lucy was always the one causing trouble, so that's my right expander cause it was very troublesome and still is. Ethel just tags along and that's what my left expander is doing. Simply tagging along for the ride. Anyway, I get my expanders out and implants in. I will have a new set of foobs (fake boobs). I'm so ready to be rid of these expanders. It will be 17 days short of 1 year of dealing with these things. I'm definitely not looking forward to another surgery. But it should be my last one. It better be my last one!
I'm still on medication to help with different things. One of these medicines causes me pain every second of every day. Some days are worse than others. But I choose to keep taking it because it will help lower my risk of recurrence. That, and my oncologist would really yell at me if I chose to stop taking it. I continue to have many doctor's appointments, but they will eventually become less frequent. I'm very fortunate to have doctors that are so proactive. And I'm comforted knowing that my sister has the very same team of doctors that I do.
I'm feeling so much more like myself with each passing day. It feels great to have energy, to laugh like I used to, to simply be back to being Wendy! But even better than that, it feels great to see Cole smiling and laughing again. Cancer is very stressful! We all know that. I knew I missed his smile and laugh through treatment, but I've realized exactly how much I missed them. Don't get me wrong, we smiled and laughed through it all. But those smiles and laughs mean so much more now than they ever did. I have several wishes, but one of the biggest wishes I have is that everyone could be loving life like I am now. Cherishing and appreciating the smallest things. I truly am living more, laughing more, and loving more.
