Originally Posted on CaringBridge: December 20, 2018

Pink Everyday is dedicated to all the lives affected by breast cancer. The truth is that breast cancer is lifelong. There seems to be no end to the battle. My hope is that we can create a community of truth tellers by sharing our stories of grit, perseverance and bravery.

“What we hunger for perhaps more than anything else is to be known in our full humanness, and yet that is often just what we also fear more than anything else. It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are . . . because otherwise we run the risk of losing track of who we truly and fully are and little by little come to accept instead the highly edited version which we put forth in hope that the world will find it more acceptable than the real thing. It is important to tell our secrets too because it makes it easier . . . for other people to tell us a secret or two of their own . . . ”Frederick Buechner, Telling Secrets

We are truly blessed that we need a platform to reach all the people we know and love. It’s an amazing feeling to have to be too exhausted to send that many text messages or make that many phone calls. So here we are. December 20th. Steve and I set off for Overlake in a wicked windstorm. We arrived at 3pm and were taken straight back to hear the long awaited test results. The waiting has been painful. Scary. But also life giving. It allowed us to gather strength to face the unknown when it came up and smacked us in the face.

I think deep inside I was ready for the news. We held on tight to each other knowing that love will get us through more than anything. We met with Dr. Kristi Harrington, who turns out is the medical director of the breast cancer center. She was kind, patient, humble and so wise. She can also pronounce all the words typed in the pathology report which I guess we will learn soon enough. The results are breast cancer. Stage 1B. We know it is an “intermediate grade invasive ductual cancer” and is “strongly hormone receptor positive”. Their words. The HER test came back inderterminent so the biopsy has been sent along for further testing. Whether positive or negative it most likely won’t change the stage of cancer but will determine how aggressive chemotherapy will need to be if needed at all.

At this point there is no evidence that the cancer has spread. I am beyond grateful that my body chose to react in a rare way with extreme pain in my breast. I would not have found it. And my OB at Kaiser had recommended that I wait for my next mammogram until I’m 50. That would have been 2 1/2 years from now! WHAAAAAT? GO GET YOUR MAMMOGRAM!!!!

Your love and prayers will get us through this. We are so incredibly thankful for the love and support that has showered us for the last few weeks. If you want to pray specifically we need that HER test to come back negative. Most likely we are looking at a 3-prong approach to beating this with chemo, radiation and surgery. I should be able to work through all the treatments and will be sporting jolly slippers and hats the entire way! We both have such positive outlooks and feel so blessed that we have this amazing community of family and friends. THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!