My Journey Begins

Hi All,

I've started this blog to help keep everyone up to date as I progress through my journey of dealing with, and ultimately curing, my breast cancer. Some of you are aware of my situation, for others this may be the first you have heard about what's happening in my life.

I had an MRI on my right breast on Dec. 28th. Two masses were detected which prompted my doctor to scheduled several biopsies on 1/12/09. The results of the pathology confirmed that I'm dealing with stage 2 breast cancer in the larger mass and in at least two of my lymph nodes. Greg and I met with my doctor this past Friday (1/16/09) to get a better idea of what we're dealing with and the recommended course of action. After a lengthy discussion, my doctor has recommend a mastectomy followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments. I'll also be starting on hormone therapy next week. The surgery is tentatively scheduled for February 16th with the other treatments beginning sometime after surgery. My doctor is very optimistic about the situation, indicating that stages 1 & 2 are considered early detection and we have a good chance of going after and eliminating the cancer.

Needless to say, this is the start of a sequence of significant life changing events that I'm still trying to get my head around. I'm doing OK, somewhat relieved to at least know what I have to do and expect going forward. It will no doubt be a tough road ahead, but I will beat this!

I welcome the company on my journey, and we'll use this blog to communicate how things are going. And thank you to everyone that has already pledged support to me and my family - it is truly appreciated!

Love, Kristine.