About two months ago I was carrying a box out to the garage and hit a sore spot on my right breast. OUCH! That’s new, weird, different, I thought. And then I took some Advil and kept on with my day.
The next morning I checked it out in the shower and it felt like a little tube shaped bead. I’ve never had anything like that so of course I started Googling.
Cyst? Benign growth? Cancer? But Cancer doesn’t usually hurt? Definitely a lot of conflicting information. I decided to call my Primary Care physician to get in for an exam and some imaging. As luck would have it, I couldn’t get in until after the Vegas trip.
Two days before we left for Las Vegas, the bump was hurting a lot. Advil wasn’t really working. I went to Urgent Care. They did an X-ray. Couldn’t tell me anything definitively and sent me home with a “you should be OK to go to Vegas.”
So we went on our two week adventure. And the bump hurt every day. The girls and I were all thinking it was a cyst so I just took Advil and dealt with it.
August 8 was my appointment with my PC. She scheduled me right away for a mammogram and it’s been a wild ride since then.
The mammogram led to ultra sound imaging to a biopsy the morning of August 16th. Biopsies SUCK! My Radiologist was a lovely kind wise woman but MAN those Needle pokes (3 each in 3 different sites) left me bruised and the tagaderm bandages literally melted my skin. My breast is bruised and scabby. And if that wasn’t enough, the call came in the late afternoon that the preliminary results were “some kind of cancer”.
Stella, my 13 year old daughter, came into the living room right after I got off the phone. I told her what Dr. Callaghan had said and all she could do was stand there and shake her head saying No, No, No over and over. She collapsed in my arms and I held her while we both cried.
Things went in to triple speed after that. A referral to Compass Oncology. A Nurse Navigator, Surgeon and Oncologist assigned to me. No specific results until this past Wednesday. Telling friends and family. Telling my New Boss. I’ll be honest, the past week was a bit of a blur.
Wednesday I got the diagnosis. Ductal Breast Cancer with Cancer also found in the lymph node. Third site was a benign lump. Cancer is Stage 2B. Too big to be stage one. Hormone Negative. HER-2 Positive.
My treatment plan is Chemo and HER-2 therapy starting on this next Tuesday. 6 rounds every three weeks. Then a break for a month. Then surgery. The goal with the preliminary infusion therapy is to find no cancer at surgery. 3/4 of patients with the same thing get that result. This particular little monster has a weakness that the HER-2 therapy exploits.
My leaning, at time of surgery, is bilateral mastectomy. Genetic testing will be a factor. My maternal grandmother had breast cancer. Frances. She was so strong. And my mom went through a bout three years ago. I do not want to screw around with my life.
At this point, Is honestly rather lose the boobs and keep my hair. Haha. How time changes one’s opinion.
I’m going to lose my hair. It’s a certainty. So I’ll be wearing wigs and scarves and beanies. I’m not really a hat person. I’m going to try to make it fun.
Tomorrow I get an MRI. Monday I get a port put into my left side just above my clavicle. This is for the infusions and blood draws. The Chemo will be done in 5.5 months but the HER-2 therapy will be for a year.
And then Tuesday, I go for my first treatment. 8:40 blood draw and then infusion starts at 9 am and lasts five hours.
My Nurse Navigator told me that I’ll make it through this. Stella heard everything the surgeon and oncologist said and she made me a card.
We are in this fight to win it. I’ve got such a huge network of family, friends, and my extended Auto and Previous Work Fam members, the prayers are literally lifting my spirit and making me stronger.
A friend asked if I have insurance, and yes I do, but with a high deductible. My mother asked me this morning if I have the money for my deductibles covered. The answer to that question after just starting my new job is no. So my “ask” with this GoFundMe is for the funds to cover the out of pocket expense for my treatment.
I’ll be treated in 2019 and 2020. That’s two deductibles.
My out of pocket maximum per year for just me is $3k, so I’m looking to raise at least $6k for that purpose.
It takes a village. One friend is taking me to get the port put in. One is taking me and picking me up from treatment. My New Boss is being very supportive. I’m hoping that my almost 5000 connections can toss a couple buck into the hat, as it were, so that I can put the financial stress up on a shelf and leave it there until I’m in the free and clear.
Thank you for reading.
Oh and PS, I’ve had friends poo poo GoFundMe because they take a percentage. If that’s you, there are other ways via PayPal or Facebook or snail mail.
I appreciate the prayers and the assistance.
The next morning I checked it out in the shower and it felt like a little tube shaped bead. I’ve never had anything like that so of course I started Googling.
Cyst? Benign growth? Cancer? But Cancer doesn’t usually hurt? Definitely a lot of conflicting information. I decided to call my Primary Care physician to get in for an exam and some imaging. As luck would have it, I couldn’t get in until after the Vegas trip.
Two days before we left for Las Vegas, the bump was hurting a lot. Advil wasn’t really working. I went to Urgent Care. They did an X-ray. Couldn’t tell me anything definitively and sent me home with a “you should be OK to go to Vegas.”
So we went on our two week adventure. And the bump hurt every day. The girls and I were all thinking it was a cyst so I just took Advil and dealt with it.
August 8 was my appointment with my PC. She scheduled me right away for a mammogram and it’s been a wild ride since then.
The mammogram led to ultra sound imaging to a biopsy the morning of August 16th. Biopsies SUCK! My Radiologist was a lovely kind wise woman but MAN those Needle pokes (3 each in 3 different sites) left me bruised and the tagaderm bandages literally melted my skin. My breast is bruised and scabby. And if that wasn’t enough, the call came in the late afternoon that the preliminary results were “some kind of cancer”.
Stella, my 13 year old daughter, came into the living room right after I got off the phone. I told her what Dr. Callaghan had said and all she could do was stand there and shake her head saying No, No, No over and over. She collapsed in my arms and I held her while we both cried.
Things went in to triple speed after that. A referral to Compass Oncology. A Nurse Navigator, Surgeon and Oncologist assigned to me. No specific results until this past Wednesday. Telling friends and family. Telling my New Boss. I’ll be honest, the past week was a bit of a blur.
Wednesday I got the diagnosis. Ductal Breast Cancer with Cancer also found in the lymph node. Third site was a benign lump. Cancer is Stage 2B. Too big to be stage one. Hormone Negative. HER-2 Positive.
My treatment plan is Chemo and HER-2 therapy starting on this next Tuesday. 6 rounds every three weeks. Then a break for a month. Then surgery. The goal with the preliminary infusion therapy is to find no cancer at surgery. 3/4 of patients with the same thing get that result. This particular little monster has a weakness that the HER-2 therapy exploits.
My leaning, at time of surgery, is bilateral mastectomy. Genetic testing will be a factor. My maternal grandmother had breast cancer. Frances. She was so strong. And my mom went through a bout three years ago. I do not want to screw around with my life.
At this point, Is honestly rather lose the boobs and keep my hair. Haha. How time changes one’s opinion.
I’m going to lose my hair. It’s a certainty. So I’ll be wearing wigs and scarves and beanies. I’m not really a hat person. I’m going to try to make it fun.
Tomorrow I get an MRI. Monday I get a port put into my left side just above my clavicle. This is for the infusions and blood draws. The Chemo will be done in 5.5 months but the HER-2 therapy will be for a year.
And then Tuesday, I go for my first treatment. 8:40 blood draw and then infusion starts at 9 am and lasts five hours.
My Nurse Navigator told me that I’ll make it through this. Stella heard everything the surgeon and oncologist said and she made me a card.
We are in this fight to win it. I’ve got such a huge network of family, friends, and my extended Auto and Previous Work Fam members, the prayers are literally lifting my spirit and making me stronger.A friend asked if I have insurance, and yes I do, but with a high deductible. My mother asked me this morning if I have the money for my deductibles covered. The answer to that question after just starting my new job is no. So my “ask” with this GoFundMe is for the funds to cover the out of pocket expense for my treatment.
I’ll be treated in 2019 and 2020. That’s two deductibles.
My out of pocket maximum per year for just me is $3k, so I’m looking to raise at least $6k for that purpose.
It takes a village. One friend is taking me to get the port put in. One is taking me and picking me up from treatment. My New Boss is being very supportive. I’m hoping that my almost 5000 connections can toss a couple buck into the hat, as it were, so that I can put the financial stress up on a shelf and leave it there until I’m in the free and clear.
Thank you for reading.
Oh and PS, I’ve had friends poo poo GoFundMe because they take a percentage. If that’s you, there are other ways via PayPal or Facebook or snail mail.
I appreciate the prayers and the assistance.
Organizer
Shannon Page
Organizer
Portland, OR