Where Do I Begin?

Where do I begin? Life certainly can throw you curve balls every now & then, but this tops them all. Mom has been diagnosed with breast cancer. I am going to try and tell her story. You see, she has no computer skills whatsoever. And I mean NONE. Brittany & I have both tried countless times to teach both her & Dad, but to no avail. So, it will be up to us to tell Mom's story for her.

It all began last July (2006) when she felt a lump in her left breast. She scheduled a mammogram at Jameson Hospital and told them before the test that she had discovered a lump. Nothing to worry about they said. Benign, it was. How they knew that without doing further testing, I have yet to figure out, but hey. It is Jameson.

In April of this year, Mom discovered a lump under her arm. She immediately scheduled an appointment with her PCP and it has been a roller coaster ride since. Dr. Coleman scheduled another mammogram at College Fields and a CAT scan. CAT scan was fine, but the mammogram resulted in "Suspicious" findings. No shit, we thought. Any lump under your arm and in your breast are suspicious. (Sorry, you will view much sarcasm throughout this blog. I am so good at sarcasm. Dr. Coleman said Mom had a 2 cm mass in her left breast and she was very concerned about the lump under the arm, as they were connected. Literally connected, that is.

From there, we went to the Oncologist on April 15, 2008. We already knew that Mom would need a biopsy, but apparently we had to pay $25 to the specialist before that could be officially determined. We won't even go there because we had to wait more than one week to see the oncologist, after hearing that the mammogram was supicious. The oncologist then told us what we already knew; that a biopsy was required. Neither here not there at this point.

Dad & I took Mom for her biopsy. They also had her scheduled for a bone scan the same day; Monday April 21, 2008. 1st up the biopsy. Mom was a nervous wreck. Dr. Schaffer, the head radiologist was going to be doing the biopsy, though, and he is the most gentle man. What a sweetheart. They took 3 samples from under her arm and 2 from her breast. Then she had to have the dye injected for the bone scan. We went home for 2 hours; then took her back for the scan. Good news! The bone scan looked good. No further problems were detected with that test. Thank God.

We hadn't heard anything as of Thursday of that week. I suggested that Mom call the Dr. to find out what the Hell was going on. All of this waiting was making Mom more of a nervous wreck than she normally is. The not knowing is a horrid thing. On Thursday afternoon, Dr. Simon's office (oncologist) contacted Mom to have her pick up all of her films and reports. They had to be hand delivered to Dr. Malay's office in Cranberry. Mom was still clueless at this point, although I will admit that when she called me at work to tell me this, my heart sank. I thought I would instantly throw up. They wouldn't have her hand deliver her info to the surgeon unless it was that ugly "C" word. By this time, NO ONE had called Mom to tell her the test results. NO ONE. Not the radiologist, the PCP or the oncologist. What the HELL is wrong with these people, I thought?

On Friday, Mom & Dad picked up her info, stopped at College Fields to get her results, (wouldn't give them to her.) and I had just about had enough. Mom & Dad were on their way to Cranberry and I called Dr. Coleman's office to speak to someone, anyone who would be brutally honest with me. Anita, who is my most favorite nurse there, called me back. Not good news. Are you sure? I asked. When deep down, I knew it before she even told me. Just then, Mom & Dad stopped in on there way back from Cranberry. Stage 2 cancer. That is all Mom could remember. She was crying, dad was crying and I was attempting to hold my own while they were there. I refused to cry in front of her. Someone has to stay strong...........................