I Finished Chemo!!!

Well my friends after 4 ½ long months and 16 chemo treatments later I am happy to report that Wednesday was my last chemo infusion!

To celebrate, many of my friends and family that routinely sat with me at my chemo sessions joined me as I completed my 16th treatment. I have to admit chemo was a lot more fun then I thought it was going to be. I want to thank Greg, Judy, Patti, Kim, Patty, Julie, Pam, Mary, Linda and Lindsey for driving me and supporting me thorough my treatments. Most of all, I want to thank my chemo buddy Raquel who would join me every Wednesday to give me support, make me laugh and bring me flowers. She is surely the reason we were voted best group or was it the group most likely to get kicked out of chemo.

Here a re a few photos of the celebration:

I also want to thank Melissa, Liz, Jen, Rebecca, Pam, Jose, Scott and Tom who all took great care of me during my treatments. I have to admit that part of me will miss my weekly jaunt to chemo, where I could take a nap, read a book, chat with a friend and relax listening to my iPod. However, I will not miss having poison running through my body weekly that keeps me up all night and makes my bones ache. I just pray it did its job and will keep the cancer from coming back.

Next up is radiation. I meet with Dr. Buth my Radiologist on Friday and will start radiation August 24th. He wants me to do 33 treatments which means I will go to radiation every day Monday-Friday for 6 ½ weeks. I am told that the side effects are skin irritation and tiredness and will progressively worsen with treatment but that most people tolerate it better then chemo.

Once again thank you to EVERYONE for all your support and encouragement!!!! I could not have done it without all of you!!

Love,

Kristine

The Power of Prayer

I believe in the power of prayer. Many times after my diagnosis, surgery and treatments I would be feeling low and then suddenly my spirit would lift. I credit it to someone who must have been praying for me at that specific time. I cannot tell you what a comfort it is to know that someone has taken the time to lift me up to the Lord and ask Him to take care of me. On that note, my heart has been burdened for two friends that need our prayers.

First is for Thomas, who was recently in a car accident. In consideration of his family’s wishes I won’t go into much detail, but I can tell you that he is a young man that will be entering his senior year of high school this fall. He made it though the accident with minor physical injuries but emotional ones that will last him a lifetime. The 19 year old male driver of the other vehicle involved passed away the evening of the accident. This young man, Nathan, that passed away was a Christian and was welcomed home to live with his heavenly Father. Thomas and his family have been through a lot in the past few years. Just five short years ago they lost their husband/father after a courageous battle with lung cancer. Thomas needs you to send a message to God to lift him up in this time of trouble. Please pray with me:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We lift Thomas up to You our Lord that You can grant him peace, strength and healing to get him through this tragedy. We pray for all his family and friends and ask You to surround him with love, kindness and support from them. We pray for Nathan’s family that they have peace knowing that he is in Your heavenly arms and dancing in heaven. We thank You for the faith both of these boys and families have in You and trust in Your plan and that all this will be for the glory of you God. Thomas and his family have endured such hardship we ask that from here on out they are blessed with an out pouring of Your love. Use them oh Lord, as examples of Your healing powers, that You reign above all and that even in the mist of our suffering You are forever good.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Secondly, I ask for prayers for Kim Carsen who recently was diagnosed with colon cancer. Kim is an amazing young woman who recently spoke out about her cancer publicly to help others that are fighting the same fight. She underwent surgery last week and I am still waiting to here the prognosis. Her spirits are high and she is a fighter, she recently lost over 100 pounds and physically (other then the cancer of course) is in the best shape ever. Please pray with me:

Dear Heavenly Father,

We ask that You stand with Kim during this fight and that You heal her physically and emotionally. Please grant her peace, healing, strength and grace as she walks this journey with You. Let it be a time that strengthens her faith in You and show this world that You are a glorious God.

In Jesus name, Amen.


I know personally what amazing prayer warriors you all are and ask that you please take the time to pray for my friends. I promise not to use this blog as my personal prayer chain, but I have been burdened so heavily with the news of these two kind souls and felt God pushing me to write this blog.

As for me, I am doing well! Today I finished round 12 and only have 4 more chemo treatments left! This journey has been amazing and I have to say it has changed my life for the better. That may sound strange but it has, and I have all of you to thank. Stay tuned I promise there are more uplifting post to come.

Love,

Kristine

Too Busy Living Life to Write About It

I apologize for not updating all of you sooner I know that for many of you this is how you keep tabs on my progress. As the title of this post goes, it has been a busy past couple of months. Ja starting playing on the JV Tennis team at school so we had many practices and games to attend. Then all the end of school activities hit us. Ja had an award ceremony for her 4.0 grade point and a choir concert. Annierae had her preschool mother’s day tea and end of year picnic at the zoo. Annierae also had her first ballet recital which Grandma and Grandpa came to see all the way from Vermont. Last week one of Annierae’s “China sisters”, Izzy, slept over two nights which was a ton of fun. We currently are doing respite care for another foster family so Kati, who is eleven years old from Guatemala is staying with us until next Friday. Tomorrow Annierae’s other “China sister” Oliva is coming for a sleepover. Oh yeah I have also been going for chemo once a week and at times looking forward to having a few hours to sit and relax.

My new chemo drug is much better then the drugs they were pouring into me for the first four rounds. Taxol is the anti-cancer medicine I am now taking that stops cell growth by preventing the cells from dividing. I was told that the major side effects are tingling in your toes and fingers and achy bones but so far I have had no side effects and feel like my old self again. The only problem I have had is with sleeping at night. I either have a hard time falling asleep or I wake up around 2:00 am and can’t get back to sleep until about 6:00 am. I will take that over the nausea any day. I am now more then half way through my chemo treatments. It’s hard to believe I made it this far. When I was first told I would have 16 treatments it felt so overwhelming now I only have 7 left and they seem to be flying by.

So, I continue to live life, enjoy my family & friends and accept this bump in the road as part of God’s plan for me. I just am so thankful that I can, in fact, keep living a fairly normal life and of course I am also thankful for all the wonderful family & friends that have helped in my journey thus far. I know I would not be where I am today without all of your love, support and prayers. You all provide me with my inspiration – thank you again.

Love, Kristine.

Third Down

Last Wednesday (4/15) was my third treatment. We got started two hours late since my nurse Melissa was out ill and they were busier than usual, swamped with patients. I went home and slept, had a little dinner, and then went to bed.

Greg was able to head out Friday to Dallas for a long weekend and hang with his buddy Randy. They enjoyed a Jimmy Buffet concert Saturday night along with a few margaritas. I was happy that he got to have a guy weekend and take a break from his busy schedule and just relax with a friend.

Saturday, the girls and I had a great day. Ja was invited out to Ada park to hang out with some of her friends from Bethany. I thought I'd drop her off, run Harley and Annierae around the park quick, and then go home. When we arrived, Annierae was surprised to see her friend Libby from church at the park. The girls took one look at each other and started to squeal with delight so we ended up staying for 3 ½ hours. Ja played tennis for 2 hours and Harley enjoyed the fresh air, other doggy friends, and a walk through the woods. Needless to say that by the time we got home all of us were beat. We watched a movie together and then went to bed.

I felt great up until yesterday and then the nausea hit hard and fast. Thankfully my neighbor Jen kindly took Annierae in for the day and Ja spent the afternoon at her Burmese church so I could just sleep. Greg got home around midnight and I was starting to feel a bit better, especially knowing he was home safe & sound. I had a great night’s sleep with him back.

So life is good, I have one more of the ‘bad’ chemos and then I will be on a different drug for my weekly treatments. I was told that the side effects will be much more manageable then what I have been experiencing, so I am happy about that.

I continue to feel all the prayers and positive thoughts being sent my way and thank you all for your love and support.

Blessings,

Kristine

Much Better This Time Around

I had my second round of Chemo on Wednesday and this time I am doing much better. I have had some nausea, but nothing like last time. I have also been able to eat after this treatment so all is good.


My hair last Saturday before it was gone

One sad note is that my hair is gone. It started on Tuesday when I woke up, I ran my fingers through my hair, a habit I got into after I started Chemo, and I felt a couple of hairs pull out. At first I though it was just a fluke so I went to the mirror and tried again in a different spot and more hair came out. So the whole day I would keep pulling out more hair and cry. I went out with my Tuesday night girls and had two glasses of wine even though I shouldn't have but the hair lose was just too much for me to handle. I called Lindsey, Annierae’s babysitter who also is a hairstylist, and asked her to bring her hair clippers with her on Wednesday when she came to watch Annierae. So after my Chemo treatment Wednesday afternoon Lindsey did me the favor of shaving my head in the privacy of my own home. Although, I did have a small audience of Ja, Annierae and Annierae’s little buddy Libby. I am proud to say I haven’t cried since and am now comfortable with the fact that I will have no hair for awhile.

So overall, life is good. Our friend Randy came to visit us this weekend from Dallas and soon my cousin Linda and Aunt Shirley will be stopping by for a visit. Then I think we are going to walk over to the High School so that Greg and Ja can play a game of tennis. The sun is shining and it’s suppose to be 50 degrees today so we are going to enjoy it before the BIG snow storm comes.

Once again thank you for all you love, support, dinners and transportation. I am blessed to know some of the greatest people in this world.

Love,

Kristine

Two Down - Fourteen to Go!

Just wanted to get a quick update out to everyone. Round two of chemo went very well. Kristine did great during and after the process. Her doctor and the nurse at LHCP did a fantastic job of adjusting her regiment to prevent nausea. So far - so good, no nausea (knock on wood). So outside of being tired, she's doing really well. Hopefully Kristine will post this weekend if she continues to feel good.

Rough Road Ahead

Sorry I haven’t posted lately but I lost four days after my first round of Chemo and have been playing catch-up ever since. What I mean by ‘lost four days’ is that a week ago I slept from Wednesday afternoon until Saturday night. Basically, I sedated myself to avoid the nausea that I was experiencing. Sad to say but by Saturday morning I told Greg that I wouldn't be able to do this for five months and just sobbed. This was the first time since my diagnoses that I realized how hard the treatment was going to be. For some reason I thought the Chemo would be the easier part and that the surgeries would be the tough part. Since I did so well with my first surgery I thought I had it made. The good news is that when I went this past Wednesday to get my blood work checked (which was all excellent) Melissa, my nurse, told me that I only have three more rounds of the bad stuff. Then when I start my weekly treatment it will be a different medicine that won’t make me nauseated. Melissa then lectured me on ‘that now is not the time to diet and try to loose weight’. I was down 7 pounds in a week due to the fact that I couldn't eat four out of the seven days. I just laughed at her and said that Chemo is the best diet plan I have ever been on and that if anything good was to come out of this I would be smaller in the end. So this Wednesday I will be going for round two and with that behind me I will be half way through the worst of the Chemo. I can manage that.

More good news, I still have hair!!!! I was told that most people loose their hair by day ten after their first round of Chemo and today marks my tenth day. I know it won’t last but I still feel better today for the hair on my head. A few weeks ago I went out and bought a wig. Originally I thought it would be a huge production where I would be prancing all my girl friends from one wig store to the next surveying my best option. But it turns out that one day I am at a specialty store buying other items needed after my surgery and they happen to also sell wigs. Because of the other items I was buying they had to call my insurance company to find out what items would be covered under our plan. Turns out they covered all the items I needed including a wig. So I asked the lady helping me if I could try a few wigs on just to see how they looked. It only took three tries and I was sold on the third wig. It was very close to the color and cut I was sporting last year. I know my prep time in the morning will be much shorter once my hair is gone because all I will have to do is slip on my wig after my shower and go. And if I tire of the wig I also have many other options thanks to Aunt Judy who has supplied me with a years worth of temporary tattoos I can put on my head. So don’t be surprise to see me this summer wearing a bunch of dolphins swimming around my head.

One last note is a BIG thank you to all my girl friends that jumped in to help me out this next month. I put out an email Monday night with a schedule attached with all the times I need help picking up, dropping off and looking after Annierae and Ja for the month of April. By 10:30 the next day the schedule was filled and I had many notes from all of you sad that you didn't have a chance to fill a slot. There will be plenty of opportunities to help out so don’t worry. I am overwhelmed by all of you and the kindness you have shown me and my family. God bless you all.

Love, Kristine

One Down - Fifteen to Go!

Kristine celebrated her birthday today by spending most of the day at the Lemmen-Holton Cancer Pavilion. This was her first chemo treatment and things went pretty well. She began at 10:00am in the morning, but didn't get any of the heavy-duty concoctions until after noon. She wrapped up and was home by early evening. She said she felt great during the treatment. Once she came home she was pretty tired, so she took a nap. When she woke up, she was feeling a bit nauseous and drained. Had a couple bites of Chinese take-out (Annierae's choice for birthday dinner) then she and I went for a little walk to see if that helped her feel better. Indeed, the cool air and movement seemed to settle her stomach and re energize her. So now she's planning on taking some good drugs to help her tummy and knock her out. So our party girl will likely be in bed by the time I get done with this post. Thank you to everyone that stopped up to see her during her chemo, called, or sent cards - Kristine really appreciated it!

More later this week.

-- Greg

Feeling good again!!!

I am hoping the worst of my journey is over with because Wednesday has to be close to one of my worst days ever. The surgery to install my port went fine and I am feeling good, but I highly recommend never having surgery when you already have a migraine. I am sending out a BIG thank you to my friends Julie and Pam who tag teamed watching Annierae for me for the day and my friend and neighbor Kim who kindly fed my family a fabulous dinner Wednesday night.

Friday was a great day. It started out with Lindsey (Annierae's sitter) giving both Annierae and I a haircut at home. Then she helped us do our shopping at Meijers and then after lunch we spent the rest of the day outside. At 3:15 my friend Liz showed up at my door to take Harley and me for a walk through the woods. The best part is when we got to the woods Doris and Karen were there and Karen brought a bottle of Chardonnay that we all enjoyed as we walked and chatted. The evening ended with Ja's friend Seng coming over to spend the weekend and ordering Chinese food for dinner. A very simple, ordinary day, but one that I cherish of late.

Now I'm enjoying a little relaxation with my hubby as we listen to Feats at Five.

Thanks once again for all the love and support.

Love,

Kristine

Slow Recovery

Hi All,

Kristine did great with the procedure to install the port in her chest this morning. The surgery lasted about an hour and she was in recovery for about an hour as well.

The only problem is that she had developed a migraine before going in this morning, and the procedure seems to have made it worse. She's been down most of the afternoon trying to get rid of the headache and nausea. Hopefully she'll feel better this evening.

We'll keep you all posted on her progress.

-- Greg

Praise God - the drains came out today!!!

I feel like a whole new woman, or at least part of a new woman :) (that's my lame attempt at humor).

In any case, tomorrow morning I am scheduled for surgery to have my port put in to administer the chemotherapy. I have been told that I won't like it at first, but will be grateful in the end because they won't have to poke a vein every week. The procedure begins at 9:00am and I should be home a little after noon.

Currently the plan is to start my chemotherapy on March 18th (my 42nd Birthday). The first two months I will receive the chemo every other week followed by three months of chemo every week. Ja and I counted the days on the calendar and we expect all my hair to be gone by March 28th. I think this will truly be the hardest part; after all, my big hair has always been my trademark. So I just keep chanting my new mantra "bald is beautiful"! We'll see how well that works.

Good news is that I may not need radiation. Dr. Lange said she was surprised that only two of my lymph nodes were positive, and since my margins were clean I am in a grey area that could push me either way with the radiation. I will meet with the radiologist next week to discuss my options.

Once again, thank you all for your love, support and prayers. I am so blessed to have all of you in my life!!!

Love,

Kristine

Overdue Update

Sorry for the gap in posts. I was in Chicago most of this week for work and Kristine is still on the mend. She continues to do very well, however she is really eager to get her drains out. They have now officially become annoying, and are keeping her from being more active. We head to the doctor on Tuesday for her post-op check up and Kristine hopes the drains will come out at that time. We should also learn more about the course of treatment at that appointment. It's possible her chemo could begin as early as next week.

Good news came last week with the results of the pathology from Kristine's surgery. Seven lymph nodes were removed and only two tested positive for cancer. All the tests on tissue samples from around the surgical area came back negative, so we're really happy that no other indications of cancer were found anywhere.

So all-in-all Kristine is doing well, just anxious to speed up the recovery and get out of the house more often. We'll do a post later this week after her appointment.

Thanks all!

-- Greg

Still Resting

Well our patient is still doing well, but very tired today. Seems like she may have overdone it a bit today. She's up sleeping right now, and won't likely get up until morning. Her pain is not bad, however she says the area around the incision is beginning to itch - we'll keep an eye on it. She also got her second Zolodex shot late yesterday afternoon with no problem. So, she continues her resting and recuperation, and hopefully she'll have a little more energy tomorrow.

Doing Well!

Sorry for the lack of updates yesterday - it was a combination rest and transition day. Kristine took it easy all day long. She had a little trouble finding a comfortable spot. Eventually she settled on one of the chairs in the theater in the basement. A couple of chick flicks and she was dozing nicely. She's eating well and the pain is not too bad.

She had a great night's sleep last night and woke up this morning saying she felt really good. She just needed a solid 10 hours of uninterrupted sleep. She took a shower (with a little help) but did her hair all on her own. Now she's eating some breakfast and plans to continue her recuperation today. I'm off to work for a few hours then back this afternoon to take her to her appointment to get her Zolodex shot (yee-ha). We'll shoot for an update tonight on how the day went.

-- Greg

Back Home!

Kristine is back home safe & sound. She was discharged around 10:15am and is resting comfortably on the couch as I type this. She has not needed much in the way of pain meds, although she said she is a bit more sore today.

Her plan is to lay low and relax today as she builds her stamina back up and continues to heal. Her doctor stopped by to check on her at the hospital before she left and said everything looked good. Her doctor also resolved the drainage issue, so everything is working as expected this morning. I'm off to get a couple of prescriptions filled for her and generally pamper her back to full health :) Hopefully Kristine will be up to posting herself later today or tomorrow.

-- Greg

Last Update for Today!

Just got back from getting Kristine squared away for the night. Her extraordinary recovery continues as she has been walking around a bit since I left and she ate a big dinner. She has been chatting it up with all the nurses and docs and is doing well both physically and emotionally. She hasn't taken any pain meds since the one Vicodin around 3:00pm today. She still has a touch of a headache, but the area around the incisions is not bothering her at all! There is a minor issue with her two drains, they are not maintaining the suction properly. The doctor said this is not an issue as a) there is not much drainage and b) they can manual pump them a few times during the night to ensure any fluid is evacuated.

The best news is they expect to discharge her between 9:00am and 10:00am tomorrow, and she told me tonight she'll be ready to come home :) She was able to call home and talk to the girls briefly tonight and they were thrilled to hear mommy's voice. Annierae had a busy day and was out cold by 8:30pm. Ja is calling home to Burma tonight, then off to bed. I'm going to wrap up a few e-mails and head off to bed myself as it's been a long -- but good -- day!

Thank you all again for your thoughts, prayers and support! Kristine said she definitely felt the positive results and could not have done as well as she has without everything you have all done and God's tremendous help!

Good night!

-- Greg

Mid-afternoon Update

Hi All,

Our patient is doing well, but still very tired. She has decided to stay the night in the hospital as she's developed a headache and is inclined to continue to just rest here (plus, the staff here is spoiling her with excellent care!).

Kristine had a good lunch, eating most of her soup and roll. She's drinking lots of water and she finally took some pain meds about 3:30 to help with her headache (the site of her surgery is not bothering her right now). She's sleeping as I type, but had been up for about an hour straight earlier this afternoon. She's doing great on the breathing exerciser and has been up and moving around a bit as well.

So I'm off to home for a while to check on the girls, get them fed, walk Harley and put Annierae to bed before I come back to tuck Kristine in (and deliver a few personal items she requested). I'll probably do a final post later tonight with any other updates. More later.

-- Greg

Mid-day Update

Kristine is resting comfortably in her bed back in a private room. Looks like we'll be hanging out here for a few hours as she sleeps off the effects of the anaesthesia. She's doing really well, alert, with a few cat-naps here and there. She's drinking water but doesn't feel hungry yet, although she's eying the chicken noodle soup and baked pretzel rolls on the in-room dining menu. We'll have to wait a bit to figure out if she'll be released today or not. I'm off to grab a bite to eat while Kristine rests. More later this afternoon.

Success!

Hi All,

Kristine is out of surgery. The doctor just met with us and indicated everything went well, no surprises. Kristine is in recovery now and I expect to head back there to see her shortly. The doctor did indicate that she expects Kristine to stay overnight, but that is still up in the air. We'll know more on that later today. I'll send another update later once I talk to Kristine. Stay tuned!

-- Greg

Underway

Good Morning All,

Greg here. Well, the day started early. Kristine and I were up around 4:00am and made it to the hospital by 5:30am. Check in went smoothly and Kristine got settled and preped with no issues. She's in great spirits, laughing and joking with the staff here. I have to say, the people here at Spectrum Hospital are fantastic. Absolutely professional yet very personable and accommodating. They are definitely making this whole process much easier!

I was waiting in the preparation room with her and at exactly 7:30am the doctor came in to chat with us and off she went to the OR. We're planning on about a two hour surgery with an hour or two recovery time post surgery. There is a new program here at Spectrum that allows me to be in the recovery room with Kristine shortly after she comes out from the procedure (that could be fun as she'll still be groggy :) ).

So now it's just a matter of waiting. I'll send more updates later today once I have something else to report on. Thank you again to everyone for your prayers, thoughts and support. It is greatly appreciated!

-- Greg

FAITH

Today, Pastor Paul spoke about Faith at our church service this morning, something I have been thinking a lot about lately. Mostly, I have wondered how anyone gets through life without it. I have been pondering the power of faith because so many of my family and friends keep commenting on my upbeat attitude and whether or not I am truly doing okay with the fact that I have cancer.

Well the truth is, I am devastated in many ways that I have to go through all this and wish there was an easy way out. It is a huge inconvenience, and I am really not looking forward to the surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation. I hate that at the age of four, Annierae has to learn about cancer because her mom has the disease. I am frustrated that instead of me helping Ja adjust to her new life in America, I will be relying on her for help. I am sad that Greg has a wife with breast cancer. This is the ugly reality of some of the feelings I have right now.

However, I do have faith, and that faith comes with peace in knowing that I will get through this journey and fully recover, continuing to live my life to the fullest. I have faith that Annierae will help me through this with lots of laughter; she is already excited for me to loose my hair so that I can get a purple wig with ponytails. I believe that God sent Ja as an angel to our family knowing our time of need was coming. And God blessed me with an amazing husband that has pledge his love for me no matter what happens in life.

I have put my trust in God and have faith in Him, and with that I can be confident and optimistic about my future. What a wonderful gift from Him!

On a different topic, I met with Dr. Lange on Friday and will go forward with my surgery tomorrow morning at 7:30am. All my blood work, including the BRAC1 & BRAC2, came back negative which is awesome news!!! Also, my chest X-ray and MUGA test all came back normal, so I will be good to start Chemo in 3-4 weeks.

Greg plans to provide near real-time updates tomorrow via this blog and Facebook. If all goes well, the surgery is expected to last approximately 2 hours, then an hour in recovery and another hour in the outpatient area. I’m hoping to be home by early afternoon (although my doctor did indicate there is a slight chance they would keep me overnight depending on the number of lymph nodes they remove). Keep checking here if you’re interested in how the day goes tomorrow.

Once again I thank you all for your love, support and prayers – you are all truly amazing!

Love,

Kristine

Thank You!!!

Hello All,

Well, I finally had time to write a quick post which is a bit overdue. I am overwhelmed with all the love, support and encouragement you have all shown me these past few weeks. When Greg first mentioned having a blog, I thought - no way - I don't want this to be a martyr site. But after I had made the first ten calls to inform my family and friends of my diagnosis, I decided that Greg had a good idea, at least from a communication perspective, to let everyone know how I am doing with each procedure. I also decided it would allow me to share all the blessing that have, and will, come from this journey. The first obvious blessing is the testimony of a life filled with incredible family and friends!!! I could not get through this without all of you!

So a quick status update - I have completed all my blood work, MUGA test (this was a test that measures how my heart functions) and chest X-rays. This all had to be done before my surgery. I also received my first hormone injection which I will get every 28 days. The hormone injections are needed because my pathology report came back showing the cancer is highly sensitive to hormones.

Now I am off to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to enjoy a week in the sun with my family, which this year includes Greg, Annierae, Ja, my parents, my sister-in-law Sue and niece Kari, Greg's sister Judy and her husband Bob and their son Kevin and daughter-in-law Monique. When I get back I will have a week to get my life in order before my surgery. For now, I’m just concentrating on having fun!

Once again, I thank you all for the prayers, comments, cards and books – it really means a lot to me!

Love, Kristine

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.