Day 1: Diagnosis

My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer on Thursday, October 11th, 2007. My sister Jill and I were in the consultation room when the doctor came in and gave us the news. While we were prepared for the worst, it did not lessen our shock when the doctor used the "C" word. It was like someone had knocked the wind out of our chests.

Jill was probably the most upset. My mother (whom I am probably the most alike) and I just kind of sat there in silence. We do not usually wear our hearts on our sleeves, preferring instead to calmly approach things and let them sink in. I will never forget the car ride home that day. You can never prepare for something like this. We tried to think of everyone that we needed to call, and Mom thought of everything that needed to be done around the house before the surgery. Luckily, since my "retirement" from the wine & spirits industry, we have been getting a lot of projects done around the house.

They say you never really know how many friends you have until something bad happens to you. In my Mother's case this is not necessarily true. She has always been very blessed with many caring neighbors, friends from work, her running crew, and her family. However, one could never anticipate the outpouring of support, encouragement, and and well-wishes that we have received in the past week. It is truly overwhelming. Perhaps the best spoken advice came from two of my Mother's friends who are both survivors. They have both been through this and have been a tremendous resource for compassion and support. It is very reassuring to speak to someone who has fought this and beat it! Thank you all for you continued support.

In the coming days and weeks we will update this blog as much as possible to keep everyone informed about my Mother's fight. We have very few details at this point as some tests are still ongoing. She had an MRI on Monday to get a better idea where the cancer was, and most importantly where it was not. The good news it that they believe that it has not spread to her other breast. They have identified the area of concern, and will forward on the results of the MRI to the surgeon. At this point she is just waiting to meet with the surgeon for a pre-surgery consultation. After the consultation it could be just a matter of days to a week or so until the surgery. There was a lymph node that was an area of concern that will be tested tomorrow. Again, it is our goal to update everyone as more details become available.

Please feel free to reach out to her or myself via e-mail with any questions or well-wishes. Our addresses are : wanarunow@yahoo.com & grant@macro-hard.com .
Jill's address is: skibunny162000@yahoo.com . Again thank you for all of the support, it has truly been overwhelming.

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