Mom has inflammatory breast cancer

What a shock it was to learn that Mom has cancer a few weeks ago. She had absolutely ZERO symptoms until August. She discoverd a lump and it got huge really quickly. In only about 5 weeks, it went from nothing to about 5-inches that you can see from the outside!!! She has been going through a lot of exams and the doctors will be starting treatment in about a week and a half-- which seems like a lifetime to us now that we're waiting. : )

She has inflammatory breast cancer. It's a rare type--only about 1% - 3% of breast cancers. It is also very aggressive and "starts" at stage 3 at least and often stage 4. That's becasue it doesn't really show up usually until it's already big and has spread to other places. (This, of course, if my paraphrase version-- plesase read professional medical information about it if you need more info on IBC.)

The plan is for her to do 6 months of chemo, then a mastectomy, then radiation for about 6 weeks. It will be about a year of treatment by the time you wait a month before and after surgery, etc. It's also the tentative plan. When they get some more tests back this week and know more about if it has spread anywhere else, then they may be changing the plan.

She is very pleased with the doctors she has and feels confortable with them. But of course, she is really dreading this and is still quite shocked that she even has cancer! We are all very surprised. We just had her birthday party at our new house in August and had no idea.

I have to call my own breast surgeon this week and get another appointment scheduled for a follow-up/check-up. In 2007, I had a golf-ball sized lump removed right before we left the States to go back to the mission field after our "furlough". It was benign, fortunately, but I have to be followed yearly. I've been waiting until we were settled to go back, so now it's time.

The bad thing about inflammatory is that it doesn't always show up on mammograms. I know I'm at high risk now and even her oncologist yesterday told her to tell her daughter to go get checked and stay on top of it. I will definitely do that!

I am so glad we're back in the States and able to be here for her. Dad has Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He's doing great now, but while we were in Brasil as missionaries, he almost died several times. I was not allowed to come back to visit or help. What a blessing it is to be here for the family now!!!

You know, it's interesting......... when John got sick and we realized we would have to come back we had a lot of talks about this. We both felt that there was a reason for his illness, yet didn't really feel that it was "for us". We both felt we were going through this for another reason and that we were going back to the States for someone else. We thought it might be Dad. It turns out that my brother needed us here this summer, but now Mom and Dad really do as they face her cancer. You just never know how God will use difficulties in your life. Even though they may be horrible and terribly difficult, they are always part of a bigger picture. We can thank God for allowing us to come back for John's illness because it allowed us to be here when our family will truly need us the most. Isn't God good????

It just amazes us the way He orchestrated it all. John has a wonderful job that he loves and we could not have asked for a better church to serve at. It's right by our family and that is an added bonus now that they are going to need help and support. Wow! Amazing!!!

Mom would appreciate prayer for her as she is facing treatment over the next year. It's going to be a rough road, but we'll get through it together.