We got great news after mom's surgery! Jeremy and I were both there with her and the surgical oncologist came and talked to us after they were done (that was on Tuesday the 16th), and said that they removed the known tumor, and nothing was found in her sentinel lymph nodes so they didn't have to progress to an axillary lymph node dissection! Which also means that her post-surgery recovery was going to be easier since a drain wasn't needed and she didn't need to stay overnight in the hospital. We still had to wait 2 weeks to see what the lab results were on the tumor they removed, but the initial news so far was great!
The trip didn't go without excitement. Jeremy wasn't scheduled to fly back to Raleigh until that Tuesday night, but snow was moving in so they cancelled his flight. Fortunately they canceled it well enough in advance and he was able to quickly get to the airport and catch an earlier flight before the snow ALSO reached Raleigh! Mine and mom's flight wasn't scheduled until the next day (Wednesday the 17th) because we weren't sure if she was going to be required to stay overnight, and also we weren't sure how good she was going to feel after the procedure.
Of course, in true southern fashion, we woke up to an icy/snowy mess and the roads were terrible. Our flight ended up being delayed from a noon departure to ~3pm departure (which wasn't terrible, considering). BUT we had no idea that getting to the airport and through security was going to be as bad as it was (which, security ended up being so, so bad for me in particular because mom always miraculously gets TSA pre-check, which I tell her it's actually senior pre-check 😂). We knew it would be challenging, but we had no idea the severity. I nearly missed the flight because the security line was literally wrapped around baggage claim and beyond (the flight ended up being further delayed which had I known, would have been a lot less stressful). Mom, in particular, was in a tizzy because she didn't know whether she should wait for me or what, because she was able to get through security pre-check relatively easy -- I would've definitely told her to go on without me and that I would catch the next flight, but the uncertainty had her stressed. Not to mention, people in the security line were fired up because they were actively missing their flights and there were these 2 or 3 guys in particular that kept finding ways to get ahead of us in line, instead of waiting like normal people. They were removed once or twice and so they'd leave, and then they'd just go further ahead each time and I think people finally gave up on it. I'm always so surprised at the lengths people will go to take shortcuts in order to get ahead (both literally and figuratively), putting other people out to get what they want. #peoplethesedays 😡
Anyway, we finally got back to Wilmington and then I was stuck there because Raleigh received approximately 7-8 inches and roads were (again) a mess. I live in the northern part of Wake County, so traveling the roads through Raleigh to get there would've been a big gamble. Not to mention, our neighborhood was a sheet of ice that next day. I finally was able to get home on Friday with little trouble.
::Fast forward 2 weeks::
Jeremy was able to go with mom this time because Craig was traveling for work that week, and we continued to receive good news! Her tumor was NOT metaplastic and was called Invasive Ductal. It's still Triple Negative, but it not being metaplastic was a big piece of the "scary". Apparently, metaplastic is often Triple Negative, so when she was diagnosed with Triple Negative, they decided to be aggressive and treat it as metaplastic, just to be safe. So, in summary it is NOT metaplastic, but it is Invasive Ductal Triple Negative. Her doctors told her that if you're going to have Triple Negative, this is the type of Triple Negative breast cancer that you want! They also changed up her radiation treatment just a little bit, and she is only going for 4 weeks instead of 6 weeks. Good news all around!
Her journey is not quite over yet, but we are happy to be past the hard and scary parts. And we are extremely grateful for all of the help, encouragement and prayers we've received along the way. It's been so welcome and appreciated, and we just can't say enough for it all. Whether you've sent messages, emails, cards, meals, kept my crazy kids, or just been able to offer a hand or a visit when things seemed really tough or uncertain, we've been thankful (and likely cried) for the outpouring of support. If you know us well, you know that we cry when you cry... and we also cry when people are just nice, so there's also that.
It is what it is. 
xoxo!
No comments:
Post a Comment