Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Appointment with the Surgeon Feb 16


Today we travelled to Sudbury for an update from  Dr. Brule, the surgeon.  We started off at 7 am for a 10:30 am appointment.  Mary was looking forward to the meeting and finding out some particulars regarding the surgery and thanking the Doctor for her efforts.  She seems to be a bit tired lately and slept on the way to Sudbury this morning.  She has been healing well and is thankful for  people praying for her.

The doctor had most of the results back from pathology, but was still waiting on one test.  The first thing the doctor did was check for fluid build up and found some.  She removed some fluid on both sides of Mary's chest.  Then she got out the results of the surgery and some good news.  She has a stage 1 cancer, her right breast had no sign of cancer and the lymph nodes were negative for cancer as well.  It seems that the only concern is whether the cancer might have travelling in the blood. When the results of the other tests are back, we will meet with the oncologist to decide whether chemo is needed.  Radiation will not be needed.  Praise the Lord for these results.

The next step will be meeting with the oncologist.  We have been referred to the cancer center and will likely have an appointment date soon.  At that time we will meet with the oncologist and discuss the options and recommended treatment.  Dr. Brule was very encouraging and happy with the results.  We will see her again in the fall.  The appointment lasted about 30 minutes and we were out.   To celebrate the news I took Mary out for lunch at Pizza Hut.  They had a buffet special.  It was a nice mild day (+2) and so we had a nap in the car, went to Walmart and then home.

The surgeon gave Mary her reports and suggested that she look up the tests and what the results mean, so that we can be more knowledgable about predications and treatment when we see the oncologist. So she is sitting in the chair with her book but she keeps nodding off!  It's been a long day but a good one. We are thankful for the good news and thankful for each of you who are concerned and interceding on our behalf.



Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Mary is Doing Well

The surgery is almost a week old and Mary is healing very well. I am trying to get Mary to do her arm exercises and that seems to be working. The problem is trying to get her to slow down and rest a bit. I came in from the barn this morning and found her hanging up wash. Needless to say she was feeling a little pain this afternoon (I wonder why?), but then she wanted to clean. I think I am going to have to get some different medication for her or a stick to keep her from over doing it.
In any case things are healing well. She has two drains on each side of her chest and we have to empty them a couple of times a day. When the drainage is less than 25cc in a 24 hour period she will be able to get them removed. We are hoping that will be on friday.
We have been overwhelmed by the notes, letters, emails, flowers and prayers from so many people. Thank you so much for your encouragement and thoughts. Please continue to pray as we meet with the surgeon on Feb. 16th in Sudbury. Know that your prayers are effective and we are able to feel God's arms around us during these times.