Home Sweet Home!

Today is truly a beautiful day- I am home! I has been 19 days since my diagnosis on October 27th. With the love and support from my children and Mami's home cooked meals I will begin to heal.

Even though I do not have all the results until the pathology report comes in. I do know that God guided the skilled hands of my doctors into performing a miracle!

Since I am still in quite a lot of pain, I will be resting/sleeping most of the time... I will post as soon as I can.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS!!!

Day After Surgery

My mom is in quite a lot of pain today. I quess the anesthesia wore off. The nurse took the IV off her, which is good! She is alert again today and doing well. She ate breakfast this morning, but didn't have as much of an apetite as last night. She got: oatmeal, a bagel, a muffin, soy milk, yogurt (which I ate), cereal (which my grandmother ate), but she didn't eat it all. She tried to get food with a lot of fiber. She is now taking a sponge bath (the nurse is giving it to her) All is well.  :)

~Madison

Surgery Results

My mom is doing well. She was done with her surgery at 12pm. She is now in her room. She is awake and alert. She has an IV on and has not eaten yet. I just wanted to inform you all.

~Madison

Update: Surgery

My mom went into surgery at about 7:50am. I saw her before she went in and then we went out to breakfast at a nearby coffee house. It was a nice place. The surgery should take 2-3 hours and after every procedure the doctor will come out and talk to us.
~Madison

The Day of the Surgery

I'm in another waiting room at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. My mom is having her sugery today at about 7-7:30am. I am here with my grandma, Steven, and Jason. We have been here since like 5:30am. I woke up at like 4am (well I never really fell asleep) it's hard to sleep in a city where there are taxis beeping horns at all hours! It's definately true that this is the city that never sleeps! My mom just went in to get some pre-surgical procedures taken care of. I'm not sure what they are actually doing.

Before we got on the floor that we're on now we got a little lost. (Really Lost!) We were told to go on one floor, then when we got there, they told us to go to another floor. I realized how big the Memorial Sloan Kettering hospital truly is! There are so many different elevator lines.(A,B,C...) and different floors for each one.(So confusing) So now I'm just waiting and waiting and waiting! My mom wanted to thank all of you for your kindness & support! I will write another post as soon as I get some news.

~Madison

The Day Before Surgery

While my mother is in the hospital I will write what is happening at the moment. Right now I'm sitting in a waiting room at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital and my mom was just called in by the nurse. Today she is going to get radioactive mapping done. (I think that's what it's called) but I'm no medical expert. Anyway her appointment was supposed to be at one, but she was taken in early. I'm here with my grandmother, my brother Steven, and my other brother Jason is on his way. I realized that almost every person in this waiting room has some kind of cancer. So I will try to keep you all updated. :)

~Madison

Three Little Birds- Bob Marley

Update

This past week I have been very busy scheduling visits to surgeons, genetic counseling and numerous tests. I have also gone to work and tried to keep my life at home as normal as possible (Is there such a thing as normal?...there is NOTHING normal about cancer!)

After researching (I feel like I've taken a crash course on Breast Cancer 101!) lots of reading and loving support from all my family and friends my plans are as follow...

I decided to have my surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in NYC. Tomorrow I will have a Lymphatic Mapping done. A small amount of radioactive liquid will be injected into the cancer site on my breast. This will then flow to the sentinel nodes (these are the nodes where the cancer first travels before entering your body).I then have to wait two hours for the scans (pictures) to be taken. They told me that I can wait in the waiting room or go shopping! (Maybe shopping will distract me! ...know of any yarn shops nearby?!) The pictures will show the flow of the radioactive dye and which nodes have an increased absorption. My surgeon will use this as a guide (or map) to determine the location of the lymph nodes that drain my cancer. The Sentinel-Node biopsy will be performed the next day.

My surgery is scheduled for Friday, Nov 13th. I will be having a mastectomy.

Since I am the fifth woman in my family to have breast cancer, I will have genetic testing after the surgery. I would have had it done before but it was an exclusion on my health insurance and was not approved unless they deemed it medically necessary. Yesterday I got the ok but since the results take 3-4 weeks (and my surgery was already scheduled!) I have opted to wait.

Good news: Today my Mom will be arriving from Puerto Rico to be with me. I can't wait to see her!! Te quiero mucho Mami!

I want to thank all my family and friends (and people I do not know) for keeping us in your prayers. I say "us" because cancer does not only affect one person, it affects the whole family! They say cancer is a life-threatening illness ... I prefer to think of it as a life-altering one instead! From the moment you hear the words,"you have cancer" not only does your life change, your perspective of life changes as well! There are no special moments...EVERY moment is special! Every day is truly a gift from God! You treasure every hug and kiss from your family...to the warm embrace of a friend who cries with you the moment you hear the news (I will never forget that, Jackie!)...the sympathetic ear of your friends who listened to you while you explained the intricacies of breast cancer while hiding the uncertainty of what your heart is really feeling.

I want to thank all of you for making these (difficult) past few weeks more tolerable. You have all given me HOPE and INSPIRED me to continue my crusade. Please continue to keep us in your prayers ... for the surgery is just the beginning of my journey!

As you go about your lives, remember to stop and let someone know you care... a simple hug, a warm smile, a genuine "hello", an "I was thinking of you" phone call, a shared cup of coffee or tea together, a piece of chocolate! That "insignificant" gesture might just help that person have a grand day! Why limit it to the people we know, try it on a stranger! They may be surprised or amazed but you will be rewarded! So as I face my greatest challenge this Friday I challenge you to do one simple kind gesture for someone else and remember to have a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!

God bless you!

"For I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances...I can do everything through Him who gives me strength"

                                          Phil 4:11-13

First Step

Congratulations Jason!! You did a great job!! My son ran the NYC Marathon for the 3rd time! I am so proud of him!

On Thursday,Oct 29th I went to meet with a surgeon. My friend Joanne accompanied me. He was very thorough and answered all of my questions. I left there with an overwhelming amount of information! Surgery is the first step followed by chemotherapy. Lumpectomy vs Mastectomy? They found three lumps,I may not have a choice.Was he really talking about me? Maybe this is a bad dream!

Today I will be going to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in NYC for a second opinion. My sons Jason and Steven will be with me. I will not make a decision until after that visit.(David,I will call you tonight and let you know how it went).

I want to thank all my coworkers for taking on the burden of my calls and retailers while I have been going to all my doctor's appointments.Thanks for your understanding!

With tremendous enthusiasm and help from my daughter, Madison,

this blog was created- MUCHAS GRACIAS!! I think she did a terrific job!

If I said I was not scared I would be lying. This is probably the scariest and most difficult experience I have ever had to face! In a matter of days I've had to process and absorb tons of information on breast cancer, especially Invasive Lobular Carcinoma(ILC).Did you know that this particular type of cancer does not always show up in a routine mammogram? Please do a self-exam,have a mammogram and request an ultrasound! It could save your life!

 

THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR LOVING SUPPORT, KINDNESS, AND PRAYERS!

Today is a gift from God...have a BEAUTIFUL DAY!!