Hello friends and family!
It has been over a month since my last update so I figured it was time.
I received my final dose of IV chemotherapy on September 29th. I celebrated by ringing the little bell in the clinic. Special thank you to Hannah Hall for driving me and accompanying me to most of my chemotherapy appointments! She made the grueling weeks something to look forward to and I will be forever grateful to her for that.

I have spent the past few weeks visiting my surgeons and getting things in order. I had an MRI after chemo was over to compare to the initial one back in April. It showed significant resolution of the masses they found. The large tumor (which was originally over 3 cm) now measures .9 cm and is very flat.  The small tumor was now undetectable. And the involved lymph node is smaller and seems to be a normal size.  The surgeon was hopeful this means cancer is no longer present however we can't get that in writing until after surgery and they run pathology on all that they take out of me.  If all cancer is gone, then there is a chance I won't even need radiation any longer. If there is even the slightest bit of cancer left, even though it will be outside of me at that point, they will have me do radiation and put me on an oral chemo so my body fully gets the "no cancer allowed" message!

As for surgery, 6 months to think about it and it was still a very difficult decision to come to. We finally landed on a plan. On Tuesday November 11th I will undergo a simple double mastectomy. If all goes well, I will go home that same day and do all my recovering at home.  I will spend 6 months healing and working on some health goals and then I will return in late spring/early summer for a second surgery. That one will be for a reconstruction using tissue from my own body and an internal repair I have been needing for some time anyway (thanks to having all these kiddoes!). They figure why not do it while they are in there anyway?!? 

I am so grateful that recovery from surgery #1 falls during the holidays when my schedule lightens up a little and then surgery #2 falls after our school year is over. Thank you Lord!!

Please stay in prayer with me for the optimal surgical results. And for my family to continue to endure the toll all of this has had on us. As for me personally, mentally and emotionally, it has been rough. It is scary to hear that you have cancer. Even scarier to learn that it is a very aggressive kind with a high recurrence rate. The baggage that comes with cancer doesn't go away when you are done with chemo or finish a surgery. The mental reminders that come up every day have to be dealt with and probably always will. Please continue to pray for my hope and courage in the face of this disease and please be patient with me. I may never be quite the same.  

Thank you all for taking such good care of us. I do not intend to add any needs back to the calendar. We don't need any physical items as my wishlist was all fulfilled back in April so I have all the after-surgery items already. And we still have meals in the freezer! Thank you so much for loving on us.