First, I am thankful for the amazing support system that I have in place. Not once have I felt alone. I am blessed to have such deep support built in through family, friends, employers and even new friends who have gone through or are going through their own unique journey. Our families have all been absolute rock stars stepping up where I have needed them.
Secondly, something that I am getting comfortable with is that every person diagnosed with cancer has their own journey and that that is important to remember. The James' spotify commercial I have quickly come to memorize in such a short time got it right when they said- there is no routine caner. One thing I am confident in is that the Tri-Health system has done a great job at making sure each person feels heard/seen, that no stones are left unturned, and that communication is open across all channels.
My roster of doctors include:
- Oncologist-Seerin Viviane Shatavi
- Surgeon- Barbara Wexelman
- Radiologist- Corey Hobbs
I got the call Monday evening as I pulled into the garage- talk about unlucky timing.
- The kids were feral as they normally are when I walk in.
- I was running later than normal because I had to stop for Chris' birthday gift which was on Tuesday.
- Dinner was just about done.
From there- I went blank and the next thing I remember is Mary Lou asking if I had any questions. Yes, a ton, but also none! She called me back the following day once I had a moment to take it all in. I was in a state of shock, but also ready to get some obvious questions answered and start planning next steps. I know surprise to all of you that this TYPE D personality control freak wanted to just get straight to planning next steps!
Monday, I got the news that rocked my world, I didn't get in to see the surgeon until that Thursday. Which I know is only 2.5 days in reality- but I was just stuck feeling like a sitting duck waiting to be taken out, knowing its coming but not able to do anything to prepare. It was a long two days that I chose to dive deep into work and focus on what I could control.
I learned more in a week of having cancer than I care to admit. And yet, I know there is so much out there that I haven't even began to scratch the surface on. I googled once for about 10 minutes and quickly decided it was not for me! I have received a handful of contacts so far and look forward to connecting with them as the time is right.
Tuesday's conversation mapped out my meetings with the surgeon, the oncologist and scheduling an imaging of my chest all happening in a two day span. Ready or not, the crazy was about to begin, and I was a literal rag doll tossed around from one appt to the next. On top of that, I met with Mary Lou who is my surgeons point of contact and she educated us on all things Triple Negative Breast Cancer has to offer. Additionally, we added in a MRI procedure on Friday, with 25 minutes to make it from Western Ridge to Clifton- Thank goodness my mom was up for the challenge!
I rolled into this first weekend as my new me exhausted in every sense of the word, feeling both empowered and lost simultaneously, just wanting to reverse one week prior where I didn't feel broken. But I knew I needed to pick my head up and run into that Friday night with the same level of excitement and happiness that our two boys have come to expect.
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