Story
Hi friends and family, this little adventure started in December when I found a lump in my right breast. Several weeks/appointments later I was diagnosed with Invasive ductal carcinoma (at that point grade 2, measuring stage 1 at 1.2cm). On March 3rd, after 2 months of waiting, workup tests and meeting Doctors, I had a right Mastectomy with expander placement (for later reconstruction) and lymph node biopsy. My final pathology was a stage 2 Mucinous carcinoma (grade 3, estrogen+ and HER2 + for those who like clinical details). My lymph nodes didn’t show cancer, and my surgical margins were negative indicating they got all the cancer. So yay for that! I’ll start chemotherapy + immunotherapy April 9th and it’ll go through July. I’ll continue immunotherapy infusions every 3 weeks for a year and have hormone therapy for 5yrs. Next year, when I am eligible for FMLA again I plan to get reconstructive surgery. Caring for our 3 kids with their various health, learning and personality needs already had me feeling maxed out before diagnosis. All the kids have sleep issues, so there is no after-bedtime to catch up on house/adult responsibilities. We are so full of gratitude for how our friends and family have come around us and carried us with their love and support. I am recovering well from surgery because of it, and rather than just fear and overwhelm with what is ahead, I feel hopeful and calm knowing you’ve all got our backs.
Special Notes
How to help: Opportunities to help in person with rides, childcare, cleaning and meals are on the calendar below and will continue to be added as appointments are made for the next 5months while treatment is very time consuming/demanding. In general, I’ve found it too stressful and complicated to reach out individually with requests for help and give detailed updates .( I love little “thinking of you” texts or hearing about your life or answering really specific questions). So even my mom is using this page to let me know what rides/kid help they can do and get treatment details. Super specific offers like “I’d have free time Friday afternoon to help in some way” or “I actually enjoy mopping, can I come mop?” are also totally welcome 😄 Right here are some ongoing needs and also lovely ways you can brighten our days. We have no expectations 😊 Gwen babysitting 👧🏼 Fortunately, I’ve been able to schedule most of my appointments for mornings before Jonathan goes to work/his day off. So there is occasionally a specific babysitting time we need covered, but mostly we could just use help getting Gwen out/entertained. She really delights in mischief if any hint of boredom sets in, but as long as she has someone to play with her/be her audience she’s delightful and down for whatever. So if you have a few hours that are convenient for you when just want to play with at our house, or take her to a park or the zoo with our pass that’s fabulous! It can be whenever is convenient for you. Cleaning 🧹 🧼🧺 I put some cleaning slots on the calendar for weeks I know we really can’t keep up. But we could always use more help with whatever cleaning tasks you actually enjoy. Whenever is convenient for you. Costco favorites: (pleasant bonus) 🥫🍇🧻 Doing a costco run for your fam and want to grab us a case of something? The following are some family favorites from costco: naked juice, kombucha, La Croix, Ellenos yogurt, goat cheese, grapes, berries, seaweed, dried mango (unsweetened), organic turkey lunch meat, lesser evil popcorn, la panzanella crackers. Trader Joe favorites: 🍣🧇 smoked salmon, frozen* veggie nests* scallion pancakes* multigrain waffles* lemon bars* pork soup dumplings*, orange chicken*, truffle marcona almonds, authentic greek feta, cucumbers and cucumber tzatziki, uncured salami, uncured bacon, mango nectar (cans/100% juice) Dog walking/training(Dreamy bonus) 🐕 Our dog Navi is 1.5yrs and very sweet but pretty excitable. If you love dogs and are experienced with positive reinforcement training/noticing and managing arousal and want to spend time with our pup it would be lovely. I had hoped to work on her loose-leash walking to help her pull less and reduce dog reactivity but that's on the back-burner indefinitely. Gifts 😳 I have everything I need. But I know being on the other side it can be nice to show love through gifts - especially when you know money is tight and what things that will actually be enjoyed. This list also includes helping tasks that aren’t needed and won’t go on the volunteer calendar: https://sokindregistry.org/38913