When we touched down in China from the USA we had a message that the docs saw something suspicious on my mammogram. I wrote our medical people and they said I needed to get it followed up on within four weeks.
[The kids were troopers while I was away on so many short trips, and they loved the candy, games, and sticky rice I brought back!]
Knowing our next few weeks of Sept were going to be swamped I decided to get on a plane to Thailand that weekend. While getting an ultrasound, the doc in Thailand found something even more suspicious on the other side.
The options: watch and wait, or do a needle biopsy. After much discussion with David and Doctors, and because of family history, we went for the core-needle biopsy. This delayed me a few days in Chiang Mai but I was thankful for the good care.
I returned home and the results were quite inconclusive. The cells were certainly not normal, they couldn't rule out cancer, they needed to do more pathology on it. With what they were seeing the protocol is for a bigger biopsy (excisional). After more discussion we decided to move my care to a Breast Center in Bangkok.
I planned another trip out, to BKK this time. And the amount of craziness it took to get my 'tissue' from the core needle biopsy from Chiang Mai to BKK was unbelievable. So many people came to my rescue in this, from SM talking sweetly in Thai to the doctors in CM to LT and DC actually getting the slides with my tissue on them (which is why they couldn't be mailed) on her already planned trip from CM to BKK. This other tissue was needed along with the current bigger biopsy in order to make a complete diagnosis.
Precious friend, KM came to be with me. I stayed with her in CM and she flew to BKK to be with me through it all, all weekend. It was a two hour surgery, there three hours before, in recovery two hours. It was really like a lumpectomy (they showed me a picture of what they removed).
KM became a bosom friend through this all. She was exactly who I needed. We talked everything: cancer, friends, theology, cancer. We did a ton of research together, and talked through every aspect of breast cancer.
The doctor put a rush on the pathology, and also said in her pre-surgery ultrasound that she didn't like what the USA saw on the other side either (though ironically the USA didn't catch the more suspicious spot). I wasn't expecting to get the answer there but in the appointment the next day she drew me a picture of what my cells were doing. And it wasn't good. No malignancy, yet, but looked to be moving that way.
There was a name for the diagnosis, but it doesn't matter at this point. From there the doctor wanted to put me on an estrogen-suppressor. She also said she wanted to remove the spot on the right too (the one that brought me on this road to begin with). I decided to wait on the medicine, but a few weeks later there I was again for another minor surgery. And KM was right there with me. Precious, precious friend, I could not have done this without her at all.
David also and always has been my hero (managing home and work 5 days each on three different trips) and he started researching. We consulted with other docs as well. Some said watch and wait (biopsy anything suspicious), a few said, sure take the medicine (watch out for some serious side affects). And also, as always,we started looking at the cancer-fighting diet options.
My right side was completely benign and I was negative for the Breast Cancer Gene--all great news. We are still in a holding pattern in regards to the changing cells on the left and I will return in March for a breast MRI and the decision of whether to take the medicine or not.
Those are just the tidbits of the facts from my health concerns that rocked us in Sept-Oct.
Next post: A (long) journal about the experience. Feel free to skip if you want! ;)
