Shirts

Hi everyone, it's Amber.  The shirts are here and available for pickup.  Feel free to contact Amber Mitchell @ 801-645-6768 or Jen Moss  @ 801-393-2462.  We plan to distribute them as quickly as possible; with your help, the process will go smoothly.  If you ordered from me, or are in my ward, I have your shirt.  Jen has everyone else's, if you're not sure just give us a call or text.  As you saw from Braden, the chemo schedule is not finalized.  Please check back here next week for a schedule of chemo days so you'll know when to wear the shirts.  

Thanks everyone!! 

A good week

This past week has been a little bit better than the previous few.  Becky is healing well from her surgery and is feeling quite a bit better.   Her drains have been removed and she went to a physical therapy appointment. We have a follow up with the surgeon on Monday to make sure the incisions are still healing correctly and there is no infection.  We have an appointment with the oncologist on Tuesday.  We are thinking that he will go over the bone scan and CT scan results with us.  He will also confirm with us the chemo regimen.  He will let us know the amount of time that each infusion will take, and how we are going to handle the side effects from the chemo.

We continue to receive great strength from the amount of support and prayers offered in our behalf.  Everywhere we go, people offer kind words and actions on our behalf.  How lucky we feel to have all of you as friends and family.

Dr. Visits

Yesterday we had a follow-up visit with the plastic surgeon.  Because he was the second surgeon to work on Becky, he gets to do all the follow-up.  The incisions both look good.  She is on antibiotics and they seem to have held off any infection.  The pain is mostly controlled with the pain meds except for a really sore spot under her right arm where they removed the lymph nodes.  Her drains have almost slowed down enough that they can be removed.  She has another appointment scheduled for Wednesday to see if the drains can be removed.

Today we went for a visit with the oncologist.  After waiting almost 2 hours to see him, I was afraid he would just rush through our appointment to try to make up some time because he was obviously way behind.  It was a relief that he did not seem rushed at all and we discussed her case and treatment options for almost an hour.

 

The tumor was smaller (3.2 cm) as we read in the pathology report.  That is still good news.  The reason that it looked larger on the MRI was because it was what is called multi-focal.  This means that the largest piece was 3.2 cm, but it had multiple pieces in multiple quadrants of the breast.  That makes the news not quite as good, but still ok.

Her cancer is staged at a IIb.  Because of the positive lymph node and the tumor size she is going to need chemotherapy.  Dr Gray is recommending Cytoxan and Doxorubicin given every 2 weeks for 8 weeks and then Taxol given weekly for 12 weeks.  I could tell Becky was disappointed at the prospect of 20 weeks of chemo, but she is willing to do whatever it takes.  She will be given an injectable drug called Neulasta to keep her blood counts up.  This will only need to be given with each chemo infusion.  (Previously they would have used Neupogen which would have required daily injections.)  The Neulasta will act on the marrow in her bones which will cause some bone pain for about 4 days after each infusion.  The newer medications will help to keep the nausea bearable.  There is a significant risk of peripheral neuropathy that can develop with the Taxol.  This is a little scary, but they are going to pack her hands and feet in ice during the infusions to minimize this risk.  He did say that the fatigue can be one of the difficult side effects to treat, because they don’t really have anything for it.  Unfortunately her hair will start to fall out quickly after the 2^nd dose of chemo.

   

On Monday she will be going to the hospital for an echocardiogram in the morning and then a bone scan and CT scan in the afternoon.  The Dr. expects that the results of both of those will come back clear, but it is important to have baseline scans in case something develops in the future.

While this post may seem a little more somber, we actually feel blessed that these treatment options are available, and that there is still the possibility of a good outcome after a long hard fight.  With your love, support, and prayers, we know that we can overcome these obstacles and continue on the path to a somewhat normal future.

Pathology Update

Becky is recovering on schedule from her surgery.  Thank you for all of your thoughtfulness and prayers at this time.  We consider ourselves so lucky to have such a great group of friends, neighbors, and family that provide us with so much support.

We were able to log onto the Select Health web site and get some of our pathology reports a little bit early.  Please keep in mind that these results have not been evaluated by the medical team and so any conclusions may be premature.  We will tell you what each of the results are and maybe a little bit of our thoughts, but those thoughts might change after we speak with the medical team.

The tumor ended up being 3.2 centimeters in size.  This is not a small tumor, but it is smaller than the physicians had estimated it to be by looking at the MRI.  The original estimates of 5.5 centimeters carried a worse prognosis, and so we are very happy that it turned out to be smaller than expected.  The tissue is labeled as Invasive Lobular Carcinoma Grade 2.  The margins appeared to be clear, which also seems like good news.

The tumor is HER2 negative.  This is considered to be good.  It is also estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor positive.  These are considered to be good as well because it gives us other options for treatment down the road.

Unfortunately one of the 2 sentinel lymph nodes that were removed was positive for metastatic carcinoma cells.  This does not seem like particularly good news.

We have a follow up appointment with the surgeon tomorrow and an appointment with the oncologist on Tuesday.  We will try to keep you updated.

Thanks again for all of your love and support.

Day by day

Becky is resting and recovering at home.  She is still struggling with the pain a bit, but it seems to be slowly coming under control.  Her spirits seem to be good and she appreciates all of the well wishes.

Shirt Sample

This is a sample of what the shirt will look like.  If you are interested in a shirt to support Becky while she fights this fight, the information you will need to order one can be found on the previous post.

~Amber

Shirts for Becky

Hi everyone, it's Amber Mitchell.  In Support of Becky's battle with cancer, a family friend is having some T-Shirts made.  I've seen a small sample of the picture that will be on the shirts and it looks awesome!! 100% of the proceeds will be donated to the Mitchell family.  Our hope is for everyone to wear them on the days that Becky has her chemo treatments.  If you are interested in a t-shirt, here is some information:

Color: Gray, with pink and white writing
Cotton t-shirts: $10
Tech t-shirts: $15
Sizes: XS, S, M, L, XL, XXL (Cotton t's are unisex sizes.).  Regular children's sizes.

If you are interested in purchasing a shirt, please contact:

Amber Mitchell @ 801-645-6768 (Call or text is fine)
Jen Moss 801-393-2462

~Amber

Welcome Home

Becky had a decent night in the hospital.  This morning they were able to remove her IV and convert her to oral pain meds.  She struggled with the pain and with some nausea and dizziness, but finally she felt well enough to come home.  She is resting and as much as we love and want to see each one of you, we are limiting visitors right now until she feels a little better.  We have follow up appointments with the surgeons next week as well as an appointment with the oncologist. This morning our entire house and yard had been decorated with beautiful pink ribbons.  They brought a smile to her face as we drove up. Jen and Liz you are sweet.  A big thanks to all of you for all of the wonderful love and support.  Our entire family felt it yesterday, and though it was a long hard day, it was just a little more bearable because of each of the sweet messages of comfort and support.

Phase 2

She is in recovery and awake and doing well. The second surgery went well and Dr. Rinard said it was very smooth and easy. If things go well, we should spend one night in the hospital and go home tomorrow. Thank you for all of your kind thoughts and prayers.

Phase 1

The first surgery went well. Dr. Hansler was able to remove the entire tumor and felt like he was able to get good clean margins all around.  There was no obvious penetration into the chest wall or the skin which are both good signs.  He removed a couple of lymph nodes and said that they appear normal to the naked eye, but we will not know for sure until we hear from pathology.  Surgery #2 starts.....Now.

The journey begins

Today is the surgery which is the first step back to a somewhat normal life.  We were scheduled to come to the hospital at 12:00, but they had a cancellation and were able to get us in a little early. After all the pre-op, we were actually heading into the OR at about 12:15pm.  The first surgery is supposed to take about 2 hours. Everything appears to be going smoothly.