Soliciting prayers...

I had debated on whether or not to post about this, but since no one (except KatieJ)who reads this knows my mom, I decided that extra prayers are welcomed. And, I thought this information is worth sharing.

My Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago and goes in for her surgery this Friday. Needless to say, we are worried. Hearing my mom say "I have breast cancer" was hard. Really hard. Hard because of selfish reasons, and hard because I could feel her trying to be strong and positive as she told me - she was trying to break the news gently. I have a lump in my throat just replaying that in my mind. So, if you are a person of faith, and wouldn't mind including my Mom in your prayers, I would appreciate it. Her name is Marian.

The other reason for posting this is to share how my mother's breast cancer was found. For over 20 years my mom has had fibroid cystic breast disease (non-cancerous fibroid cysts), and has had many procedures over the years - aspirations, cysts removed etc. For all of those years she traveled into the city, to a large university hospital, for all of procedures - getting mammograms and breast ultrasounds faithfully every year and at times more frequently if necessary.

Anyway, last year she found another lump and decided to go to a local surgeon, recommended by my sister, who also has fibroids, to have a cyst removed. After this new doctor did her surgery and her next mammogram came back clean, she recommended that my mom have a breast MRI, because my mom sister had breast cancer (a 25 year survivor, thank God). So, a few months ago my mom had the MRI done and there was a shadow. Her doctor then sent her for an ultrasound to confirm what was seen. She had the ultrasound done and it came back clean - the report stated that the MRI must have been a false positive, a shadow of sort. My mom's Dr. sent her for another ultrasound, this time with a radiologist instead of a technician, feeling that it would be more thorough. Again, the ultrasound came back clean. Her Dr. still not satisfied, sent her to a different hospital, an hour away, to have another MRI, but this time with a biopsy of any shadowed areas. Well, the MRI showed a the shadow, a biopsy was done, and she has cancer.

What is keeping us optimistic is that early detection is what saves lives, and this breast MRI procedure found my mom's breast cancer at least 3-4 years sooner than a mammogram would have. Partly because of size, and partly because of location. And needless to say, we are extremely grateful for her doctor's resolve to not let her patients slip through the cracks.

My sisters and I will now be getting breast MRIs in addition to yearly mammograms. We are also awaiting my mom's blood test for the breast cancer gene, to see if we also need to be tested for the gene.

So many of us have friends and/or family members who have, or will, be diagnosed with breast cancer - if you know of anyone with a family history of breast cancer, encourage them to seek out a breast MRI. This test isn't available everywhere, but worth pursuing. And if your doctor thinks it's not necessary, tell them you know someone personally who has benefited from having one.

Thanks.