<\/p>\n
So tonight, I’m referring to “the c word”\u00a0 as Pink Lemonade.\u00a0 It kinda goes with the whole “when life gives you lemons” deal and it’s pink.\u00a0 We know pink around here.\u00a0 It’s helped us smile in the past, so I’m going with it for tonight.<\/p>\n
The following answers are completely my own, and by no means anything remotely close to “doctor-ish” correct.\u00a0 It’s what I know right now.\u00a0 Mel usually focuses on medical talk and remembers specifics.\u00a0 I do not.\u00a0 So, I apologize in advance.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0 When did you feel a lump?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0 I’ve actually felt one for several months now.\u00a0 Just didn’t realize how serious it was, or could be.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 (Crazy, I know.)\u00a0 I felt it this past winter and noticed that it had\u00a0 grown into a substantial size last month.\u00a0 I put off my doctor visit one more month because I had a scheduled OB visit.\u00a0 (Again, stupid on my part, I know.)<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0 What size is it?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0 Right now, by ultrasound it seems to be about the size of a sugar cube- based on the dimensions.\u00a0 It wasn’t a pretty shape, like a circle or a football.\u00a0 It was more like a lumpy knot with legs.\u00a0 It’s an “Intermediate” grade tumor.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0 What is the time frame for everything?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0 Not sure.\u00a0 I had my OB appointment last Wednesday, August 3rd.\u00a0 I was scheduled for an ultrasound the following morning.\u00a0 I was referred to Dr. Cupples for diagnostic tests and diagnosis on Monday.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I’ll have an MRI on Tuesday, August 16th and meet with Dr. Sweatman on August 18th for a plan of attack.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0 Where have I been the past couple of days?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0 I’ve actually been going into work this week.\u00a0 Mel’s mom has been graciously keeping the girls for me, so I can gear up for the start of school.\u00a0 I left my phone in the car today while I was at school from about 9-5.\u00a0 I had several texts and messages.\u00a0 Sorry, I just forgot about my phone.\u00a0 I got home and had to take out the trash, fix dinner and play Wii with the girls.\u00a0 Life as a mom, as usual.\u00a0 Right now, as I type this, McCanless is in her dance clothes and new fuzzy Winter vest and is performing a fashion show.\u00a0 MC is naked, in skates, eating strawberries.\u00a0 Mel is poised and ready for a fire alarm as there is a huge storm brewing outside.\u00a0 Like I said, life as usual continues on.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0 Have I told the girls?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Dr. Cupples called me on Tuesday around lunch.\u00a0 I was making chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese for the girls.\u00a0 As I was talking to him, I forgot about lunch and burned the grilled cheese.\u00a0 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.”\u00a0 McCanless said, “Yes, Basil has it.”\u00a0 (Basil is one of our cats.)\u00a0 For years, Mel and I have joked that Basil, a stray cat that we began feeding years ago would clearly die “soon.”\u00a0 The poor cat sneezes and has very little hair-for four years now.\u00a0 We’ve been afraid to catch him for fear he’ll bite us and we’ll get some crazy cat disease.\u00a0 So, we make sad jokes about Basil, yet keep him fed.\u00a0 Poor cat.<\/p>\n
So, McCanless’s idea of cancer is a hairless, wheezing cat.\u00a0 Fantastic.\u00a0 Once I explained that Basil did not have cancer, I had to explain as best I could<\/em> to my baby girls…<\/p>\n “Cancer is like a bug.\u00a0 You have heard of a virus before. Right?\u00a0 Sometimes in the winter, you two get viruses and you must take medicine to help get it out of your body.\u00a0\u00a0 Cancer is a little like those viruses, but it’s a really, really bad virus.\u00a0 Mommy has cancer and it needs to get out of mommy’s body.\u00a0 The doctors will probably have to take it out of Mommy. \u00a0 I’ll have to take medicine to help.” <\/em>McCanless then asked me where the cancer was.\u00a0 As soon as I said in my breast, Mary Clare burst into laughter.<\/p>\n “Mommy has bugs in her boobies!” MC said through giggles.\u00a0 She heard the very first words of my explanation and nothing more.\u00a0 We three sat there laughing hysterically.\u00a0 I think it went rather well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" So tonight, I’m referring to “the c word”\u00a0 as Pink Lemonade.\u00a0 It kinda goes with the whole “when life gives you lemons” deal and it’s pink.\u00a0 We know pink around here.\u00a0 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6340","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6340","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6340"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6340\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6348,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6340\/revisions\/6348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6340"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6340"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.babypennington.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6340"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}