Wednesday, January 29, 2014

MRI tomorrow!

I am very happy that my surgeon was able to expedite my Breast MRI- it's tomorrow morning, with results later in the week, or just in time for my birthday!  Praying nothing else comes up, and we are only removing one tumor during the lumpectomy come early March!  All positive thoughts thrown my way are appreciated! 

Be well, 
mb

Sunday, January 26, 2014

checking in!

First I need to boast, though most of you that follow this blog already know, but my girl Bella won the hoop shoot free throw competition for our district on Saturday, and has moved onto the state finals next weekend!  We are so proud of her!


Today we got a chance to visit and spend some time with our amazing little "great" nephew, Philip.  Those of you close to me know that he recently underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor.  He is recovering well, and back to his cheerful, silly, wonderful little self. Children are so resilient, and they amaze us day in and day out!  We continue asking for positive thoughts and prayers for him!



the craziness of life has taken over! Along with working a few days a week, and raising our adorable new puppy Stella, there is Softball, soccer, baseball, hockey clinic.  Just a few of the things that I need to be ready and able as much as possible for.  So I can't let RA/PsA get me down!  I am feeling much the same, probably a little worse.  I am suffering daily ankle pain, as well as continued pain in my left foot.  A new "pain" has set in recently, a shooting pain down the side of my left leg.  Back pain is a daily thing, and I have recently seen a specialist, and have had both an MRI on my neck and spine.  My back pain is not all related to RA/PsA, so time to get some answers!  

Most of you may remember that I started to write in this blog again, just over a year ago after a scare immediately following my first mammogram.  I went through the roller coaster ride of waiting for test results to find out if the tumor they found was benign, or cancer.  Benign it was, but it was still being monitored every 6 months because with the kind of tumor it was, growth was inevitable.  I went back last week for my yearly mammogram, and 6 month ultrasound, and though my mammogram thus far has come back clear, I have found out that the tumor has grown.  With the last year being a whirlwind of nothing less than horrible events, and my mother being diagnosed with breast cancer in the thick of it all, I have decided to undergo a lumpectomy.  I will have surgery in early March, and have the tumor removed.  It wasn't an easy decision to come to.  After seeing my surgeon, and going through my recently changed family history, we have discovered that I am now a candidate for further screening - we have also discovered that I have a 24% chance of getting breast cancer, that's 1 in 4 chance people!  So along with a yearly mammogram, I will be having an MRI.  This MRI will pick up anything that mammogram may not, and though the chance of false positive cancer diagnosis is there, my surgeon has assured me that anything that does come up, will be removed and biopsied.  We are hoping to get this done in the next couple of weeks, before my lumpectomy, so that if anything comes up, we can take care of it during my scheduled surgery.    So again, I put it out there to all of my friends, if you are in your mid thirties, or have a family history of breast cancer, please, GO GET A MAMMOGRAM.  Early detection saves lives.  It could be be mine, or it could be yours! 

Until next time, be well!
mb

Saturday, January 4, 2014

This is how I spend my Saturday night....

......so I can walk from Sunday - Friday! (I limp around from Thursday -Saturday, with nausea on Sunday and Monday, usually TMI on Tuesday* and exhaustion at its worst on Tuesday and Wednesday!) 
 
That's a host of medications, two of them being injections.  3rd week of the Enbrel injection.  Praying, (and lately I'm not a girl of prayer!) that it starts working!  I've taken myself almost completely off the steroid, as well as the sulfa med, with hopes if remission soon!!!  

*TMI is code for something 😜