A little pink lemonade Q & A…

So tonight, I’m referring to “the c word”  as Pink Lemonade.  It kinda goes with the whole “when life gives you lemons” deal and it’s pink.  We know pink around here.  It’s helped us smile in the past, so I’m going with it for tonight.

The following answers are completely my own, and by no means anything remotely close to “doctor-ish” correct.  It’s what I know right now.  Mel usually focuses on medical talk and remembers specifics.  I do not.  So, I apologize in advance.

Q:  When did you feel a lump?

A:  I’ve actually felt one for several months now.  Just didn’t realize how serious it was, or could be.  I was assuming it was a “left over milk gland” that had lost it’s way or at worst, a cyst that only needed to be drained.  (Crazy, I know.)  I felt it this past winter and noticed that it had  grown into a substantial size last month.  I put off my doctor visit one more month because I had a scheduled OB visit.  (Again, stupid on my part, I know.)

Q:  What size is it?

A:  Right now, by ultrasound it seems to be about the size of a sugar cube- based on the dimensions.  It wasn’t a pretty shape, like a circle or a football.  It was more like a lumpy knot with legs.  It’s an “Intermediate” grade tumor.

Q:  What is the time frame for everything?

A:  Not sure.  I had my OB appointment last Wednesday, August 3rd.  I was scheduled for an ultrasound the following morning.  I was referred to Dr. Cupples for diagnostic tests and diagnosis on Monday.  After another ultrasound, mammogram and vacuum assisted core biopsies of the tumor and several lymph nodes, Dr. Cupples made the diagnosis and referred me to Dr. Sweatman.  I’ll have an MRI on Tuesday, August 16th and meet with Dr. Sweatman on August 18th for a plan of attack.

Q:  Where have I been the past couple of days?

A:  I’ve actually been going into work this week.  Mel’s mom has been graciously keeping the girls for me, so I can gear up for the start of school.  I left my phone in the car today while I was at school from about 9-5.  I had several texts and messages.  Sorry, I just forgot about my phone.  I got home and had to take out the trash, fix dinner and play Wii with the girls.  Life as a mom, as usual.  Right now, as I type this, McCanless is in her dance clothes and new fuzzy Winter vest and is performing a fashion show.  MC is naked, in skates, eating strawberries.  Mel is poised and ready for a fire alarm as there is a huge storm brewing outside.  Like I said, life as usual continues on.

Q:  Have I told the girls?

A:  Yes.  Dr. Cupples called me on Tuesday around lunch.  I was making chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese for the girls.  As I was talking to him, I forgot about lunch and burned the grilled cheese.  Later, after fresh grilled cheeses were made and the girls and I were sitting at the table chatting away, I asked if they had ever heard of “cancer.”  McCanless said, “Yes, Basil has it.”  (Basil is one of our cats.)  For years, Mel and I have joked that Basil, a stray cat that we began feeding years ago would clearly die “soon.”  The poor cat sneezes and has very little hair-for four years now.  We’ve been afraid to catch him for fear he’ll bite us and we’ll get some crazy cat disease.  So, we make sad jokes about Basil, yet keep him fed.  Poor cat.

So, McCanless’s idea of cancer is a hairless, wheezing cat.  Fantastic.  Once I explained that Basil did not have cancer, I had to explain as best I could to my baby girls…

“Cancer is like a bug.  You have heard of a virus before. Right?  Sometimes in the winter, you two get viruses and you must take medicine to help get it out of your body.   Cancer is a little like those viruses, but it’s a really, really bad virus.  Mommy has cancer and it needs to get out of mommy’s body.  The doctors will probably have to take it out of Mommy.   I’ll have to take medicine to help.” McCanless then asked me where the cancer was.  As soon as I said in my breast, Mary Clare burst into laughter.

“Mommy has bugs in her boobies!” MC said through giggles.  She heard the very first words of my explanation and nothing more.  We three sat there laughing hysterically.  I think it went rather well.

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