January 29, 2005

Went in for the pre-operative test. Seems like I am good to go next week! I was advised that I will probably be spending the night in the hospital. That was news to me! All is well with me. I'm ready to start my treatments.
Yesterday, I stopped by the Cancer Resource Room at Siteman after my tests, and was given a set of tickets to a modern dance company performance at the Fox Theater. I was so excited! One of the friends I took with me introduced me to a couple acquaintances who were attending the performance. They also received the tickets from the Cancer Center that day. It was amazing the people that God puts in your way. They were a great encouragement to me, and gave me some great advice. The gentleman I met suffered throat cancer from years of smoking. Don Young is now a leading advocate of smoking prevention in the St. Louis area. Please check out his website at www.youngchoices.org. He teaches classes at the Cancer Resource Room at Siteman and throughout the St. Louis area. I gave them both a hug when we departed, because they were such wonderful people. I am glad God "hooked us up!" :) AB

January 25, 2005

We have a date!!! Relief and fear! My surgery date is Fri., February 4. I don't know what time yet, but a this point, I don't even care. I am just glad to have a date. It has been a long 2 week wait, filled with tears, angry whining (sorry and thanks Mom,) and lots of prayer on my part. Everyday I learn how to trust Him more.
Thank you all for your words of encouragement. At times of discouragement, I would just read through your notes and remember how much God loves and carries me through your words. They are precious to me.
Again, keep praying for those lymph nodes! One body part is enough! :) AB

January 22, 2005

Sorry for the delay. I know many of you were waiting for news on my surgery date. I have no news about a date. I was too upset last night to report it. I spoke with Dr. Dietz last night and she was not able to give me a date. She is having her assistant call me by Tuesday.
I do have some good news to report (actually, great news!) After studying my test results, the committee found that they believe the tumor is only 18 mm (Originally they thought it was 24mm.) Only surgery will determine the exact size, but 18 mm is much, much better! The smaller the tumor, the less they take of me. I can only praise God for this.
Please pray for me, as I have had some pretty rough emotional days. I am not handling this wait very well (though, my friends say I am.) I keep thinking about Christ, and his wait before His suffering. He is my inspiration.- AB

January 19, 2005

Called the surgeon's office today to find out my surgery date. The scheduler said that my case has been chosen to be discussed at a weekly surgeon's committee, which takes place tomorrow. The scheduler said that every week Dr. Deitz chooses a case to discuss before a roundtable of other doctors. I don't know what this means (a good thing or bad.) I will have to call back on Friday, January 21 to get the date (and why my case was discussed!) When I know, you will know.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow....AB

January 18, 2005

Great news! The MRI results are in....there were no new growths found in the breasts. This is great news, because it strengthened my choice for a lumpectomy. Within the next day or two, I will receive a call from the surgeon, setting a date for the surgery. I am both relieved and scared at the same time. Please continue to pray that the cancer has not moved into the lymph nodes.
Thank you so much for your encouraging words of hope and encouragement on the Guestbook. I am very humbled by your responses. God has truly surrounded me with love!- AB

January 17, 2005

No news on the MRI yet. The doctors office was closed today for the MLK Day holiday. Hoping to hear some news on the MRI tomorrow.

January 13, 2005

Alicia attended her MRI appointment tonight. Not much to report yet. The results should be in tomorrow or Monday.

January 7, 2005

Alicia received a phone call that informed her that the estrogen receptors are positive. This means that Alicia will have to have hormone therapy, but it also means that the cancer is fed by estrogen. Therefore, a drug such as tamoxifen will "starve" the any remaining cancer after the surgery, radiation and chemo.

January 6, 2005

Alicia and Greg both attended the consultation appointment with Dr. Dietz. During this appointment we learned that things were much more serious than we thought. Alicia is facing surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy and hormone therapy all this year. Surgery options include either a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. Radiation is only required for the lumpectomy option. Radiation options include external beam radiation (a "tanning bed" type treatment) (once a day, 5days week for 6 weeks) or Internal radiation (a localized catheter approach) (twice a day for 5 days). The length of the chemotherapy is really dependent on the results of the sentinel lymph node test. If the sentinel node test is positive, Alicia will have 8 cycles of chemo, if negative she only faces 4 cycles of chemo. We really need prayer that the sentinel node test is negative.

January 4, 2005

Alicia received a phone call from the doctors office and they informed her that they had in fact found cancer. At this point, we still didn't feel that things were very serious. We were thinking a simple lumpectomy to extract the tumor and things would be finished. They scheduled a consultation appointment for Alicia to visit a surgeon on January 6.

January 3, 2005

Alicia went to her appointment for her first mammogram. She had felt a lump in her right breast which prompted the appointment. After the first mammogram, the doctors couldn't really see anything, but they decided to perform an ultrasound test as well. During the ultrasound, the doctors definitely saw something. At this time, they decided to perform a core needle biopsy to test for cancer.