BREAST CANCER ~ UPDATE

You may remember in August I posted about my sister Brenda finding out she has breast cancer HERE. She had a surgery to remove the tumour and surrounding tissue. At the time she was told it was non-invasive.

Since then she has had a second surgery, to remove more tissue around the area as they didn't get all they needed to the first time.

That was 3 weeks ago, and yesterday she got some bad news from her doctors.

She needs to have a mastectomy, and this has thrown her and all of our family into a spin. Apparently there are more cancerous cells and some that aren't but apparently "most likely will turn cancerous". Does this mean it IS invasive? I don't know....

She's seeing a plastic surgeon on Monday, to talk about breast reconstructive surgery. She's scared, she's agonizing, she's stunned. As are her kids and her hubby and her sisters.

I just wish I could take this all away from my sister and make it better. I'm crying as I type this just because I feel so damn helpless.

Please if I can just ask once again for your positive thoughts, energies and if you are of a mind, prayers. Lots of prayers?

I'll keep you updated as we know anything more.

Thank you all for your past and continuing support for Brenda!


***EDIT*** After telling Brenda how many people are praying for her, she sent me this message to copy and paste to share with you. Note: "Ceara" is her 11 yr. old daughter, my niece:

Hi sis, I am sending this email for you to forward to all your wonderful friends, who obviously care very much about you! And deserving you are, I don't know where I would be in my life without you right now. Quite frankly I'm scared poopless! I am shaky and feeling extremely vulnerable right now, beat the odds for so many years, and now I'm scared of what's in the other breast, in my blood, in my bones etc. etc. My logic drives me insane, gee if it's in this breast, why wouldn't it be in the other etc.

I have so much loving support around me now, at work I felt like I was being lifted off my feet a little to make it all easier to bear. They are such a great bunch. The girls at my sign language class are right there beside me, the instructor has told me if my assignments are late - no biggie (it is usually very strict), and I can take my final test whenever. Ceara's school administrators immediately offered to set Ceara up with a counsellor to help her deal with it, she is scared too, although I've given her the rosy picture - and I'm giving myself that too!!

So to all you wonderful people - Karen, Vicky, Bobbie, Terri, Tracey, Danni, Dick, Janna, Nancy, Ben, Jay, Orion, Jeremy, Patty, Laura - and all of you out there who care enough about a stranger to send you love.

I too, send mine and wish you all the best. I will keep Judy up to date of course, and as long as the lymph node biopsy comes back clean, you are right Karen, it will be a done deal, no treatments except maybe the drug. On the other hand, I will have radiation and chemo they tell me - but the odds are in my favour of the nodes being clean. I have to say I am afraid to hope too much though, they have led me down a bit of a garden path.

Again, thanks all!! It means the world to me, and thank you for supporting my sister Judy through this, because it's very hard on her too.

Love,
Brenda


I just went out and bought 4 of these pins for all of us sisters to wear, and get Brenda through this. Linda yours is on it's way!



Bless you,
Jude