The Beginning

Hello friends and family - if you are reading this we assume you are doing so because you want information about what's going on with my mom at the current time. She was hesitant to do this, I think if she had it her way she could take a long vacation and come back cured without anyone knowing a thing. But we (mostly my dad and I) didn't think that was the best option. We really appreciate everyone's support and feel bad that we haven't been able to get information out to concerned loved ones fast enough and this is our remedy. We will do our best to keep it updated with the latest information but hope that none of you will feel any pressure to read it. (This post is rather long as I try to outline everything that's happened, but subsequent posts should be much shorter).

Comments on the blog are appreciated, as are emails to my parents, but they feel like they won't be able to respond as quickly as they would like. If you have questions or want to sign up to bring meals feel free to email me (jenniferandwest@gmail.com ) and I will be able to respond faster. I'll be putting together a schedule for breakfast, lunch, light afternoon snack, and dinner every day - our goal is that we won't have to grocery shop until the surgeries are over! Lucy is also concerned that no one will be around to take care of her, so I'll be putting together a Rent-My-Sister schedule as well - although we probably will need to have her around at least once a week.

We debated titling this blog 'HyperVigilance' as it is an apt description of what brought the current situation to light. My mom has always been uniquely aware of her own physical well-being and it turned out to be a huge blessing. Here's a general timeline of her health over the last year, along with updates and some humorous anecdotes.

Brain -  She was diagnosed with a meningioma (benign brain tumor). These are pretty common and the doctors aren't too worried about it. But, they recommend that she gets it removed while she's young. She was always telling us she had a brain tumor but we all just thought she was getting old...apparently it was both! She likes to tell us these are very common and that half of all adult cats have them - whew! As long as cats are used to it.

They also discovered that she has a chiari malformation (opening from her skull to her spine is too small).  In her case, it is causing a syrinx (kind of a fluid filled cyst) in her spine.  Though she doesn’t have many symptoms, it is thought that she ought to have it corrected before she begins to have symptoms.When your mom tells you her brain is being squished and that brain juices are leaking into her spine it's a little traumatic - but she likes a reaction and my dad quickly explained the facts of the situation.

The Other - She had a mammogram in December that showed some calcifications in one big toe (our code word for 'breast' - helps keep the teenage boys, and well, all of us more comfortable with discussing it).  While calcifications are a common finding in women in their 40s, there was a cluster of calcifications that needed some closer attention.  She had a biopsy performed where they found something called DCIS or Ductal Carcinoma In Situ.    DCIS is actually pretty common, but it does need to be treated because they have no way of knowing whether or not it is going to invade.  So she had a small lumpectomy performed where they took out all of the calcifications and a little extra, hoping to get clean borders.  Unfortunately, there was one edge that still had some DCIS and they found a very small (4mm) tumor of invasive cancer which they were able to remove with completely clean borders.  This was small enough that not only did it not show up on any of the many mammograms but it was not felt by any of the many (she likes to emphasize the word 'many') doctors who examined her.  The doctors are very confident that because this was caught so early it is very treatable. She will be having a surgery tomorrow (March 2nd) to do a lymph node biopsy in order to make sure nothing has spread to her lymph nodes. She says since being diagnosed she has become aware of so many living breathing happy women who have lived through it and so she is confident she will be fine.

She has another surgery scheduled in two weeks (March 16th) where she will be having more of the DCIS removed. They don't know exactly what this surgery will entail as they are waiting on the information from tomorrow's surgery. In other news - she got some test results back today: the cancer is HER2 Receptor negative (means this is not the most aggressive form of cancer), it is estrogen/progesterone sensitive (means there are more drugs that can be used effectively), and the genetic test came back negative (means I am not doomed to have everything cut off and/or removed). 

My mom told me about the cancer on Valentine's Day. We had planned to go for sushi but there was an hour wait, so we ended up at a random Mexican restaurant with a mix of early bird special types and Chuck-a-Rama patrons. We ate our mediocre meal, she told me the news, and then told me what I thought was the worst news of the night....I will probably have to get a mammogram at age 32 rather than 40! 

A week later, after the lumpectomy, I was at home with my parents asking about the surgery and getting an update on the next steps. My dad was taking the lead on explaining and he insisted on using lots of hand gestures and pointing to areas of his own chest to help explain...I'm not sure there's worse way to hear about cancer procedures but I know that I will probably never be able to get that image out of my mind. 

My mom wrote a letter to William on his mission and in that she included what she called her 'State of the Family' address. I thought it would be appropriate to include some of that here. We've been surprised at how positive this experience has been for us in our own family and her letter really captures some of that:

I like who we are!  I like where we’ve come from  - thinking about the larger extended family – grandparents, aunts, uncles , cousins etc.  It was so fun for me to gather up pictures of everyone to send to you.  It reminded me of how lucky we are.  And I like thinking ahead about the future.  I think each of my children is wonderful and that they all have bright futures ahead of them.  Jennifer is happy and enjoying work so much and doing an incredible job there.   She’s persevered through college and is just about to check that off (not as soon as everyone hoped).  She visits often and the other kids appreciate and enjoy her.  We couldn’t be prouder of you. We know what you are doing is hard and yet we can see how happy you are and what an incredible difference you are making in people’s lives.  And all along the way you have been so good at communicating and sharing the experience with us.  Peter is living life to the fullest as a senior with all of its stresses and adventures and girls.  He is looking towards a bright future with many opportunities in college and in serving a mission.  He is being a great older brother.  David is in the thick of being a 14 year old with all of the awkwardness and pressures that brings and yet he is still just a sweet pleasant kid at his core.  He takes good care of the little ones and is a good loyal friend to Billy and good company for his parents too.  George and Lucy are so pleasant and enjoyable and happy.   Dad and I feel as close as we ever have and we’re both striving to serve well in our callings and as parents.There is love at home.  Okay, there is a little contention too, but when it comes down to it we’re all there for each other and we can look past the tense times.  We have a nice home.  It is falling apart in places (lost some more siding in a wind storm) and not very clean or organized in some corners (not my strength!), but we fit well in it and it is comfortable and it works well when we want to entertain groups or when we are just hanging out.  We live in a wonderful neighborhood with kind loving people and a beautiful setting that never ceases to inspire us.  So I feel to report that I am so grateful and happy about our good family state!

Anyway, that's the latest update, I will post an update tomorrow about the surgery. Thanks again for all the support, we are so grateful for it and so impressed by the incredible people in our lives.