My Cancer Journey

Craig and I had our two teen granddaughters stay with us for one week, and the four of us were on a day trip when my General Practitioner called and told me about the results from the biopsy. The call came much sooner than I anticipated. I had been open with our children about the potential of cancer and left it up to them if they wanted to tell their children (then ages less than one to 20) or not. They all told their children. This made it easier when my doctor called as it was not a complete surprise for the girls that were visiting. It can be difficult to decide if it is better to tell children or not, but I am a firm believer in not keeping those kinds of secrets. It will come out eventually, and there might be hard feelings then.  Here are my granddaughters’ thoughts from that day (I am Farmor) -  E: “When my Farmor answered the phone and stopped in her tracks, I knew it was bad news. My sister and I stopped a little ahead, trying not to eavesdrop. We walked into the res...

There are some things we think only happen to others - cancer is one of them. When I went in for my routine mammogram on Wednesday, July 19, 2023 I did not expect to be in treatment for years to come. I was not concerned when I received a phone call saying they needed to do an ultrasound on my right breast as there was a mass they wanted to look at more closely. This happened once before and it turned out to be a benign cyst. I have many fatty cysts (lipomas) and assumed this would be the same thing. July 26 I went in for the ultrasound. It was not until the technician brought in a doctor I got concerned. It turned out to be not a lump, but a spiculated mass. My understanding is that it is sort of shaped like seaweed, flat with offshoots. This was not your normal cyst. The doctor wanted me to get a biopsy. This was not the news I expected. The next day, Thursday, July 27, I went in for a needle biopsy. Craig, my husband took the afternoon off so he could take me there and home. Everyon...