Decisions, decisions

We met with Dr. Jafari, Jamie's oncologist today. Not really any major news--just a lot of questions and answers about details.

The bottom line at this point is that Jamie needs to make a decision--whether to have a mastectomy followed by chemo and then radiation,

-or-

do chemo first, then surgery (either a mastectomy or lumpectomy, depending on several factors), then radiation.

So for now, we need to do some thinking and praying.

We have two appointments tomorrow, with the surgeon and the radiation oncologist, basically more information gathering.

We are doing ok, Jamie is pretty anxious right now--please pray for peace, that she could make a decision that feels right for her and be able to move forward in that decision.

long week

It was a long week for Jamie--tests and consultations every day. I was out of town for work; fortunately, Jamie's sister Linde was on vacation and was able to accompany Jamie to her appointments. Jamie said it was a great blessing having Linde by her side.

I felt much better about having to be away, knowing Linde was there, as were Linde's husband Chad, and Jamie's mom Vicki, who both helped out with Jamie and the kids throughout the week.

Jamie is pretty emotionally worn out after this week. We have two more meetings next week--Monday with Dr. Jafari, the oncologist, and Tuesday with Dr. Kantorowitz, the radiation oncologist.

After those two meetings, we will hopefully have more details about the next steps.

I am reading a great book called Stand By Her: A Breast Cancer Guide for Men. It gives great ideas about how to love and support your wife in this situation.

One of the things it talks about is how to organize family and friends and ask for help. So that is something I will be doing soon.

It also talks about helping guard Jamie's time and communication. There are times she really wants to talk with people, and others when she doesn't. We really appreciate all the support and prayers and emails.

Please feel free to email Jamie or me, but please understand if she doesn't reply right away.

Thank you for your prayers--keep them up!

Linde painted this for Jamie and hung it in our room. Thanks, Linde!

The bone scan today was a breeze compared to the MRI the other day, except for the fact that I couldn't talk, couldn't move and I had both my sister and my mother in the room with me.
How does one not laugh or giggle at the two of them teasing the tech about being the Wizard of Oz (he went behind a curtain to operated the computer).
So I got there quite early this morning, they checked me in, and the tech (Tony) came and got me, told me he was going to shoot radioactive material in my system, and I could go have breakfast.  I said wait a minute, I'm eating now.  I was so confused.  What the schedulers failed to tell me was that I had to have a shot to flush this material through me, and I had to come back 3 hours later for the actual scan.  It was quite frustrating, but while I was waiting around, my sister came home with me and we hung pictures in the house, including the one she painted for me.
It is named "Promise."  You can see a picture of it on my facebook page.

I could really use some prayers for sleep (I awake in the middle of each night and cannot fall back asleep due to all the anxiety about what we have to face next).

Thanks again for all your prayers, words of encouragement, and support.

I just wanted to thank all of you who have sent well-wishes and prayers.  This is extremely overwhelming and I need to apologize and ask for forgiveness ahead of time for not responding to everyone individually.  It just seems like too much for me right now.
It is easier for me just to carry on as if nothing is going on, otherwise I turn every possible scenario through my head.

MRI and upcoming schedule

Jamie had the MRI this morning. She said it was uncomfortable, but she did great. I don't know if I could lie still for that long. No results yet; that will come next week.

Here is Jamie's schedule for the next week and a half. Once all these appointments are done, we'll move forward with treatment.

Monday 23^rd      8:45        Bone Scan

  10:40      Labs

Tuesday 24^th       9:15       appointment with surgeon (Dr. Skinner)

Wednesday 25^th 11:45      Lymph node biopsy

Thursday 26^th     6:45        CT

Monday 30^th       2:10        appointment with oncologist (Dr. Jafari)

Tuesday 31^st       1:30        appointment with radiologist (Dr. Kantorowitz)

Thank you for all your notes and calls of encouragement!

next up--MRI today

Later this morning Jamie has an MRI--I believe the main purpose is to look at the tissue in her breast around the tumor and see if there is anything else that they need to know about.

I'll be going with Jamie, and so will Lyle, her father.

Please pray that nothing else of concern would show up, and that Jamie is able to relax and be positive.

Thanks for all our prayers and support!

Initial diagnosis

Last week Jamie had a biopsy and we received the news that it was positive. Today we met with Dr. Jafari, Jamie's oncologist. He was encouraging in that Jamie's cancer is NOT Her2--a more aggressive form of breast cancer.

He described Jamie's cancer as Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, which is the most common type of breast cancer.

Jamie's cancer is stage 3 (out of 4 stages--1 being smaller and less concerning, 4 being larger and more concerning.)

Jamie will have a biopsy on her lymph nodes in the next few days; Dr. Jafari  believes that her lymph nodes are "probably involved."

Jamie still has several appointments--an MRI tomorrow, an appt. with Dr. Skinner, the surgeon next week, a cat-scan, the lymph-node biopsy, and insertion of a port for chemo.

After all the appointments and tests we will meet with the team of doctors to make decisions about treatment; but for now, it looks like the course of treatment will probably involve:

1. Chemo in two parts:
part 1 is weekly for 12 weeks
part 2--every other week for 8 weeks

2. Surgery--either a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, still to be determined.

3. Radiation--focused on the spot where the tumor is.

If we get all the appointments taken care of soon, Jamie could start chemo in about two weeks.

So this is where we are. Jamie hasn't said much today, I guess we're still taking it all in and processing.

This blog will be a place where we can update family and friends, and each of us (Jamie, Ashley, and me) can write about what we are going through and how we are feeling.

Feel free to leave comments, and thank you for your prayers, encouragements, questions, and support!