Please consider joining our team. It will be fun, walking is good for you, and with my mom and Aunt Glenda on the team, it’s a no-brainer that it will be a good time! A bonus… as a member of our team, you’ll stay in the gorgeous Atlanta Marriott Marquis Hotel and be treated to festive events on Saturday night!

If you’d like to join our team, visit http://www.2daywalk.org/2011walker/togetherpink and click the “Join Our Team” link. If you’re not interested in walking, but would like to support our fundraising goal, use our team link to make a donation. If you register during the month of February, you can get a discount off your registration fee by using the discount code KICKOFF.

Thanks so much for your participation and your support. We’re hoping to raise money and awareness to help everyone, particularly those in our region, fight and win the war against breast cancer. If you have any questions about the walk, registration, fundraising goals, etc. just let me know.

Jessica King
Team Captain for Together Pink

The doctors said everything looks good! We are really proud of her and thankful that she is doing so well.

Dr. Deutsch should be around this morning. Once he sees her, they will get her up and start walking. I’ve always known that my Mama was a strong lady, but she has really put me to shame with this surgery. It was two days before they started talking about me getting out of bed. Her faith is powerful.

Dr. Simpson is the best. I’ve trusted her for 20 years.

Will keep you posted when Dr. Deutsch comes out.

Keep the prayers going.

Mama is trying to be calm. I’ve been very proud of her. I was actually the one that the nurse said to “breathe”. I didn’t realize that I was holding my breath when they were inserting the IV needle. We’ll get to see her again before they start surgery. They are perfoming a sentinal node scan with nuclear medicine now. It’s going to be a long day/night since they won’t start the surgery until about 3:30 pm. They have to get all of the preliminary work out of the way first.

It’s prety wierd being on this side of the operating room. I wish Mama didn’t have to go through this, but at least we know what to expect when she comes home.

For all of you who procrastinate, please get your annual mammogram. They truly may save your life. This is how they caught both of ours.

I want to thank everyone again for all of their thoughts and prayers for me. Now we need to ask for them again for my mother…Elizabeth Day.

I will update all of you again once she gets out of surgery.

Ann

Lynne, you need to get a second opinion immediately. Or if you really like your doctor, insist on a biopsy. Do not wait six months. My doctor said six months would be devastating since I had a very aggressive form of cancer. Your doctor should not “think” that it is benign. It should be a medical fact that it is benign, which I think can only be proven by a biopsy. Most of the time, the biopsy is almost painless. I would recommend a biopsy as soon as possible. Stay persistent until you know that it is not cancer.

Hang in there. Let me know if I can help.

As for me this week, I had two doctor’s appointments. Tuesday, I went to see Dr. Deutsch. My belly incision broke Friday night, so I was really worried. The gap is about 2 ½ inches by ¾ inch and you can see the cadaver skin that he had to put there. He said he could not sew it back up because it may be a harbor for infection. It has to heal from the inside out. I put hydrogen peroxide and antibiotic cream on it several times a day to prevent infection. It’s still holding its own and appears to be healing. I’m staying positive that it will heal with no problems. He said we could deal with the visual aspect later once I am completely healed. My breasts are healing great! Their color is normal! I look like the “bride of Frankenstein” with stitches and cuts everywhere on my body, but it will all be over with soon!

Wednesday, I had my appointment with Dr. Ballard. He is no longer coming to Fayetteville every week, so I have to make the trek to Howell Mill every three weeks now. But he is worth it. Like my first paragraph indicates, you must trust your doctor 100%. I had the choice of staying with the group in Fayetteville or staying with Dr. Ballard. That was a no-brainer. He is the best!! He is impressed with my recovery. My blood results were good, so I was able to take the Herceptin. I was really pleased with the nurses in the infusion room. The nurses in Fayetteville were all so good, that I was unsure of what to expect there. But I was extremely pleased.

I’m still not able to stand up straight, but that should come after about 4 ½ weeks according to Dr. Deutsch. I’m walking to the mailbox several times a day (yippee!). I’ll be glad when I can walk around the block.

I have found that the key to recovery is to stay positive and happy. I thank God every day that I have the opportunity to live! I hope that I can be an inspiration to others once this is over. Being diagnosed is not the end of the world. I have proven to myself that I am strong and have courage and determination to win any battle put in front of me. Thank you for giving me the encouragement to be motivated to get over this.

- Ann

- Jessica