LiveLaughLove's Journey with Invasive (Infiltrating) Ductal Carcin...

Had a mammogram on a Friday afternoon in March 2012. Had waited 4+ years from my first mammogram until my second. Why did I wait so long? I don't know. I turned 50 4 months earlier and thought I should start taking better care of myself in my 51st year. On the same day as my mammogram I took my oldest daughter for her first OB/Gyn exam, so I was puzzled when the OB/Gyn called me on Monday. My daughter was 21, an adult, and I didn't expect the doctor to be calling me about my daughter. It turned out, of course, that the doctor was calling about my mammogram results. Oh, no! Suspicious results ... not a good thing to hear.

After a week of ultrasounds and biopsies, I received a phone call at work, only 7 days after my mammogram. So - within a week - I was quickly diagnosed with breast cancer in my right breast. I called my husband and my parents, who live far away. My mom asked, "What's the plan?" and later called back to apologize for asking about that at so early in the process. My husband called his mom, who also lives far away. I drove home from work and met with my husband and four children (two at-home teenagers, two college students). My husband and I told our children. Our youngest burst into tears. One of the children asked, "How long have you known?" and I looked at my watch and said, "30 minutes." They all were terrified by the news but reassured by our quick notification.

I was at the hospital for pre-op with my sister, who had traveled across the country to be with me. There was a terrible flurry of tornadoes that forced everyone in the hospital to move to interior rooms without windows. After the tornadoes went past us, I had my pre-op procedures (radioactive dye inserted via three shots in my breast). The dye migrated toward the lymph nodes where the breast tissue drains, so that the surgeon could determine which nodes to remove for inspection. The next day, as I waited with my family just before surgery, we talked and laughed (a lot). I went confidently into surgery and came out woozy. Went home that same night. Didn't like the week following surgery when I had to wear a "drain" and be so careful in the shower. Was pleased when that thing was removed!

One month after the lumpectomy I was back at the hospital to have the surgery for port installation. Everything went well, but I had a bad side effect: within three weeks I developed a blood clot. (I noticed that my left arm was painfully swollen. Went to have an ultrasound, then was told to head to the ER. Was admitted for two nights.) I started to have to take a blood thinning medication every day. I met often (weekly, then every other week) with an anti-coagulation nurse practitioner who would change the medication dosage to get my "INR" level to be between 2 and 3. It took a very long time to get it right.

Chemotherapy regimen: FIRST ROUND - 4 doses of flourauracil-adriamycin-cytoxan, spaced three weeks apart. SECOND ROUND - 12 doses of Taxol, every week. Tough stuff during the FIRST round: hair loss and nausea!! Glad to have the medications to keep nausea away. Wish I had listened to advice and NOT bought a human hair wig; too expensive. Loved my scarves and my synthetic hair wig. Tough stuff during the SECOND round: Fluid retention in ankles & feet, nail fungus, dry mouth.