Back to work.
9/24/12--She returned to work where all of her co-workers were waiting with open arms. She has so many wonderful people that she works with and I know they truly are concerned and worried about her well being. A few co-workers have been really instrumental in helping her, because they are Breast Cancer survivors themselves!! I want them to know that I appreciate them for their ongoing support. I will do my best to keep you guys up to date throughout her surgery and recovery.
I also have many co-workers that have been really supportive and concerned about my wife. It means a lot when people who have never met her tell me that they will be praying for her and will add her to the prayer list at their church. You guys will never know how grateful I am to work with awesome group of people. Family comes first, as I always say, and it's nice to know that your employer supports that mentality. It definitely makes what's to come a little less stressful.
I spoke with another colleague to see if she could take the information that we do know and somehow help me understand the process and get her input on my wife's case. She's an Oncologist. My goal was to be able to somehow prepare her for more concrete probabilities, because I wasn't sure at that point what my wife was expecting to hear OR hoping to hear from the upcoming Surgical appointment. I proceeded to tell the Oncologist all that I knew--2 tumors in the right breast--both close to 3 cm in size, Estrogen/Progesterone receptive, no HER2 results back yet, but no evidence of lymph node involvement on the ultrasound. It was as I feared. She told me that, assuming no lymph node involvement and with 2 tumors close to 3 cm, she would stage her cancer as Stage 2A. She went on to say that they would likely recommend mastectomy instead of lumpectomy because there were 2 tumors. She said this would be better because she would likely only have to have Chemo and not radiation. Radiation is ALWAYS recommended if lumpectomy is performed. She sounded very optimistic about the chances that she would make a full recovery. I appreciated her time and the information she provided, but now I had to decide whether to tell my wife.
I reasoned with myself on the drive home....I'd want her to share the information with me if it was the other way around, but how do you broach the subject of..."oh yeah, by the way Honey, I spoke to one of my Oncologist friends today and she said she feels that having your breast removed is going to be the best thing for you". Oh boy, what a pickle I had gotten myself into. I called her and told her that I had some information that I wanted to talk to her about when we got home. "I don't know how much more information I can take right now" was her response. Oh boy. But luckily when we both arrived home she was ready to hear what I had found out. She didn't say much. She didn't cry. I knew that she was smart enough to know that this information was likely true, but I also knew that she and I wanted it to be wrong. We hugged each other and got on with the nights routine of dinner, bathing, and bedtime stories for our 7 year old. We would find out the definitive plan in 2 days....no more research, just be there when she needs me.
I also have many co-workers that have been really supportive and concerned about my wife. It means a lot when people who have never met her tell me that they will be praying for her and will add her to the prayer list at their church. You guys will never know how grateful I am to work with awesome group of people. Family comes first, as I always say, and it's nice to know that your employer supports that mentality. It definitely makes what's to come a little less stressful.
I spoke with another colleague to see if she could take the information that we do know and somehow help me understand the process and get her input on my wife's case. She's an Oncologist. My goal was to be able to somehow prepare her for more concrete probabilities, because I wasn't sure at that point what my wife was expecting to hear OR hoping to hear from the upcoming Surgical appointment. I proceeded to tell the Oncologist all that I knew--2 tumors in the right breast--both close to 3 cm in size, Estrogen/Progesterone receptive, no HER2 results back yet, but no evidence of lymph node involvement on the ultrasound. It was as I feared. She told me that, assuming no lymph node involvement and with 2 tumors close to 3 cm, she would stage her cancer as Stage 2A. She went on to say that they would likely recommend mastectomy instead of lumpectomy because there were 2 tumors. She said this would be better because she would likely only have to have Chemo and not radiation. Radiation is ALWAYS recommended if lumpectomy is performed. She sounded very optimistic about the chances that she would make a full recovery. I appreciated her time and the information she provided, but now I had to decide whether to tell my wife.
I reasoned with myself on the drive home....I'd want her to share the information with me if it was the other way around, but how do you broach the subject of..."oh yeah, by the way Honey, I spoke to one of my Oncologist friends today and she said she feels that having your breast removed is going to be the best thing for you". Oh boy, what a pickle I had gotten myself into. I called her and told her that I had some information that I wanted to talk to her about when we got home. "I don't know how much more information I can take right now" was her response. Oh boy. But luckily when we both arrived home she was ready to hear what I had found out. She didn't say much. She didn't cry. I knew that she was smart enough to know that this information was likely true, but I also knew that she and I wanted it to be wrong. We hugged each other and got on with the nights routine of dinner, bathing, and bedtime stories for our 7 year old. We would find out the definitive plan in 2 days....no more research, just be there when she needs me.
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