Surgery Scheduled...

Just confirmed with Annette that my surgery is scheduled for next Wednesday, Nov 18th at Roper Hosptial. Have already done the pre-registration with the hospital as well. I need to be at Roper downtown no later than 7am. After paperwork is done (might take a while according to Annette) I will go in to have the needle placement put in for the injection during surgery. After that is done I will most likely have a little waiting time and then go in for surgery at 10:30'sh. I am unable to have anything to eat or drink after midnight on Tuesday night. Maybe Benton and I will take a late night run through Sonic so I can chow down a burger & shake (no corn dogs, sorry Mama Ceal!).

I have to say thank you to the following families who will be helping care for Jesse & Dylan next Wednesday. The Clarke family will be welcoming the boys to their home around 6:00am; the Legg Family will be picking them up from early release at school (11am); and the Dale family will be tag teaming with the Legg's to get the boys to AWANA and home that night. Thank you to all of you for your willingness and availability to help us! You are the "family" we have here in SC and we are so blessed to know and enjoy each of your families!

That's it for now. Please continue to pray for both me and Benton. Wednesday is sure to be a super long day, no only for me but also for Benton. Please pray for both of us to calm during the events of the day. Please also pray for wisdom for Dr. Baron and his staff. We know and trust the Lord will be in total control of the day.

Keeping the Faith and the Tatas!!!!!!

Hello everyone! I received AWESOME news today. Annette, one of Dr. Baron's assistants called me at about 2:00pm today. She said she had literally just received my BRCA gene test results a few moments ago and wanted to call me ASAP to give me the good news....it was NEGATIVE!!!!! WOW! I am thrilled! God is so good, he has answered yet another prayer of mine! His Will is being done and he has spared me my tatas!!! For those of you who don't understand "tatas" there is a new breast cancer awareness campaign/marketing slogan that simply says "Save The Tatas". I think it is so funny yet must admit I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a t-shirt with that on the front. It's a fun way of referring to a woman's chest though don't you think??

When Jesse and Dylan got off the bus today I just couldn't contain the excitement about the test coming back negative. We stood in the kitchen and I grabbed both their hands and screamed "time to do the happy dance". I think they thought Mommy had gone nutzo on them but it was still fun to be goofy with them. I explained to them why this was such good news and I could tell on Dylan's face he was relieved to know that the surgery wouldn't be too complicated. I honestly felt like running into the streets just screaming "Praise the Lord, for He is so good, all the time!" If it had been raining today I probably would have gone out to dance in the rain! I'm looking forward to a huge hug (or 2, or 3, or 4, or....) from Benton tonight!

We're are proceeding with the surgery date for my lumpectomy on Wed, Nov 18th. I do not know what time surgery will be yet. Like I said earlier I know it will be at Roper Hospital in downtown Charleston. Tomorrow I have to have some simple blood work done but am just going to my primary care physicians office to have it completed.

Wow, what a day filled with joy! I love knowing that God is in total control of this situation in my life, and in all areas of my life. I honestly know he hears and answers my prayers!

John 16:23-24, "I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 24Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete."

Dates to Remember...

This is mostly for my sanity but here is how the past few months went for me...
9/25/09: routine mammogram at Trident Breast Care Center, Charleston, SC
10/7/09: diagnostic mammogram & ultrasound on left side at TBCC
10/15/09: biopsy left side TBCC
10/19/09: received results that cells were cancerous; met with Dr. DeBerry in pm
10/21/09: met with Dr. Gretchen Meyers, oncologist, for "interview"
10/27/09: met with Dr. Paul Baron at Cancer Center of Charleston, surgeon
10/29/09: MRI done at CCofC with Dr. Baron's staff
10/30/09: Final walk thru & closed on our new house!!!!! :)
11/5/09: Follow-up appt with Dr. Baron to review MRI & pathology; diagnosed as grade 3 cancer
11/7/09: Big move into our new house! Whew, great exercise & a lot of work!
11/9/09: Rec'd BRCA test results...they were NEGATIVE!!!! Keeping the Tatas!!!!

Good to be "Home"...

It's Sunday evening, November 9, 2009, and I'm sitting in our new house, in the new office, and just feeling so at home already. We were so blessed to have many extra hands on deck yesterday to make the move. Thanks to our wonderful, loving, and willing fellow servants from Miles Road Baptist Church who got 'er done! You guys rocked yesterday! Hopefully we'll be able to return the favor to y'all sometime!

Nothing new to report on the cancer front. Still waiting for the results of the BRCA test. Hope to hear no later than this Tuesday. Plenty to keep my mind occupied and me busy this week as I unpack box by box. It's kind of like Christmas for me...not sure exactly what I'll find when I open up each box!

Time to call it a night. Will be sure to post any news when I get it!
P.S. HE had a birthday but we got the GIFT!!!! Amen to that Mr. Dibble!!!!!!!

More Info...

Just got an unexpected phone call from Jill Neumann, the PA for Dr. Baron. It was 6:30pm when she called so I was quite surprised. She said they have the results from the pathology report. My cancer is a "grade 3" on a scale of 1-3; 1 being the lowest in agressiveness, 3 being the highest. Sounds scary but really isn't. It doesn't change the diagnosis, treatment, surgery or prognosis. Just means that if, when they go in to remove the cells, that it may have spread a little. If the cancer has spread they will just take it out while I am already in surgery.

On a side note I asked Jill what she was doing at work so late. She told me they had a really tough day today. I was honest and told her I noticed that she was not "herself" when I saw her earlier and also mentioned that it seemed like the whole staff was confused and not "on top of things" today. She said it got really crazy in the office this afternoon and she apologized if it came across to me that way. I feel better knowing that today was an unusual day for their office. I have total confidence in them and know that this is the practice and surgeon I want to use.

Packed a few more boxes but had to keep out the electric skillet so we can have pancakes in the morning. We hope to move our beds over to the new house tomorrow and actually sleep at our new house for the first night! Woo-hoo!!!

Thanks to everyone for all your continued prayers and thoughts. Do you know I have people praying for me in Paris, France??? Isn't that awesome to know that God hears our prayers all over the world even though I'm in small town Summerville, SC??? God is so good, all the time!!!!!

Good night all!

A Little Confused...

Today is Thursday 11/5/09 and I just returned from what I thought would be a simple, quick, "follow-up" appt with the surgeon. Everything went well, with the exception that the appt took about 1 1/2 hours and the staff seemed a little out of sorts today. It was as though no one knew much of anything about my MRI and Pathology report results. Dr. Baron asked his assistant where the pathology report was and she said it was being reviewed by another doctor in their office.

I first met with Jill Neumann, the Physician Assistant, who explained to me the procedure of the lumpectomy and the procedure of testing the sentinel nodes. They will test the nodes at the same time they are doing the lumpectomy. They test the nodes because if the cancer cells have spread anywhere that is the first place they go. If the nodes come back negative they will sew me up and I'll be good. If the nodes come back positive they will remove them and the surgery will just take a little longer and I'll be a little more sore for a few days. The cool thing is that they do all this at one time.

Both Jill and Dr. Baron still are very optimistic about the outcome of the surgery. We have tentatively scheduled my surgery for Wednesday, November 18th. I will have the surgery at Roper Hospital in Charleston. However, if the BRCA test come back positive, we will need to cancel that date and then start a whole new ball game of possible mastectomy and ovary surgery. Please pray that the test results come back negative!!!! I like my tatas just the way they are and so does my hubby! Enough said on that....I'm giggling right now!

So, a few more days to wait for the BRCA test and assuming those are negative we are on for the 18th. Benton will take that day off and then I should be fine to be at home by myself during the day while the boys are in school. Benton will be on Daddy duty in the mornings though so please begin praying for him now about that responsibility for him! I'm giggling again as I can only imagine what the mornings will be like without me making lunches, telling the boys what to wear, and getting them out the door on time!

I have not made a decision yet on an Oncologist. I'm sure Dr. Baron and his staff will begin talking to me soon about that choice. There is an Oncology practice right next door to Dr. Baron's office that is recommended so we'll most likely end up with them.

Time to get Jesse to his basketball evaluation for Upward tonight. The move is going well and we are thrilled that so many friends from church are willing to help us this Saturday to get 'er done!

A verse for the day...John 14:27, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

Emperor Penguins

Today is Tuesday and I finally got a call back from the doctors office with the results of my MRI. She said something about the area where the calcification is being about the size of a half dollar. I'm confused by that since it looked so tiny on the digital mammogram photos. I do know, though, that MRI's give a much more in-depth look (more like 3D). She has some concern about the swelling of a few lymph nodes but also mentioned that the swelling there could be from the biopsy. It's not uncommon apparently for the nodes to swell after a biopsy has been done. I have a follow-up visit scheduled with the surgeon for this Thursday afternoon. He will review the MRI results and the pathology reports with me then. Still waiting for the results of the BRCA test to come back. They should be back no later than next Tuesday.

I woke up at 4:30am today with the knots in my stomach again. I got up around 5:30am, made my coffee, and talked with the Lord for about 15 minutes. It always helps to lay all my concerns before him. He knows every thought, emotion, and concern going through my head right now. As soon as I finished praying and began waking up the boys, all my anxiety subsided. Again, I must say, GOD IS SO GOOD TO ME! Even the smallest of prayer requests he answers. He calmed my nerves once again and let me proceed through the day with joy and a smile on my face.

Benton came home for lunch today and we sat and laughed about the funny comment Dylan made in the car this morning. Here is how the conversation went:
Jesse, "Mommy, how much does Daddy weigh?"
Me, "About 225 pounds."
Dylan, "Wow, that means Daddy could pick up an Emperor Penguin! They only weigh about 125 pounds!".
The joy Dylan and Jesse bring to my life is priceless. Just when I thought I'd have a "uneasy" day, Dylan pipes up and makes the cutest comments. Right when I started to giggle he said "STOP!". I told him I couldn't because his delightful personality makes my heart so happy I just can't help but chuckle!

It is an absolutely perfect fall day here in Summerville. The sun is shining, the breeze is blowing softly, and the leaves are falling. It's just gorgeous! A perfect day for moving more boxes to the new house! Off I go!