Explaination for the 13 Days of Fun Before the 13th

I have mentioned before that this blog is to look at the good things in my life in spite of all the challenges I have been facing. I have yet to mention what these "challenges" are but I figure now is as good a time as ever to bring up one . . . the on challenge that put me over the edge. I have had several health problems over the past year but it all culminated in October. I found a large lump in my right breast. It was so large that I really thought it must just be dense tissue. After visiting the OBGYN, he suggested I get an ultrasound. We decided to remove the lump and have it biopsied. I have had several fibradenomas in my life so I wasn't worried about anything at all. The surgeon removed the lump in early November. He said it was the size of a lemon (I told you it was large!) We still were not too worried thinking that it was probably just another fibradenoma.

When the pathology came back, it turned out to be a phyllodes tumor and it was malignent. A bit of shock and a LOT of denial set in at that moment. My doctor told us not to worry too much at this point in time. A Phyllodes tumor is very rare in that it does not respond at all to Chemothreapy or Radiation. That may seem like a bad thing, but the good thing about it is that it DOES respond VERY well to surgery. My surgeon was confident that if he went back in and was able to cut out a wide (1/2") excision of tissue around the tumor, we would never have to think about it again. We scheduled the surgery for early December. When we went in to find out the results, the doctor informed us, that since the tumor was so close to the skin, he was unable to get the margins he wanted to get. So we scheduled an MRI in early March to see if there was any tumor left and decide what our next steps would be.

Christmas came and went, our birthdays came and went and finally it was time for the MRI. Unfortunately the MRI "lit up." So I was given two choices.

1) Watch and wait to see if the tumor comes back (it could come back in the breast or the lungs)
2) Have a mastectomy.

Neither option seemed like a good choice for me. I wanted a number 3. There was no number 3. To most, this seems like an obvious choice, but when it it you in the position to make this choice, it is not so cut and dry. I took 2 weeks to pray, think and pray some more. Finally I decided to get the mastectomy. We scheduled it for April 13th. I cried and cried and cried at the thought of losing my breast. Then I snapped out of it and told Matt that if I am going to have to do this we are going to do at least one little fun thing everyday before the 13. That day was March 31 . . . thus began the 13 days of fun before the 13th.