Out of surgery successfully 9-30-11

Betty is out of surgery it went very well. She will be in recovery for a couple of hours and then she will be assigned a room. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. If you want to be updated and it's not being updated on facebook or the blog you can call Freeman Information and they can give you some information. They will not have any new information for atleast a couple of hours the number there is 417-347-1111. Again thanks everyone and we will do our best to keep you updated.

Busy Times

Update as of Sunday, September 25th, 2011

The facts:

9-21-11 I got to go to the Pink Door boutique to be fitted for my post-surgery bras. They are aloe infused and have pockets that Velcro to them to hold the drains that will be attached to my chest.

They deliver the bras to my friend while I am in surgery for the nurse to put on my after surgery.

9-22-11 I went to Freeman admissions for my pre-op.  It was very well organized.  I talked with someone that discussed the surgery procedure with me.  I was given a notebook of information.  It tells me what I need to do before and after surgery.  They took blood, checked my blood pressure and answered my questions.  

I found out that I don’t get to shower or bathe after surgery until the drains are removed.  It could be up to 2 weeks.  Sponge bathes only.  Wow….I’m gonna stink! Foam shampoo and sponge baths.  It’s funny, before this I would have loved to have an excuse to not shave my legs for 2 weeks. 

9-30-11 Surgery day  - I will ask a friend to post on the blog and my Facebook account how things go Friday. 

How I feel:

Wow, the last couple of weeks have been so busy and I am thankful. I am still thankful and still believe that everything will be okay, but I have started to weaken.  As of Friday night, Sept 16^th I started to become extra sensitive and weepy.  I am assuming it is because I am mentally becoming more and more tired.  I feel very overwhelmed with everything.  My body is weak by 3pm every day and it is all I can do get through the evening.  It is as if I spent all my energy for the day by 2 or 3 pm.  

I feel like I have a lot to get done before surgery.  I have a lot of work prep and prep at home to get done.  I get to pick up my Aunt Betty on Wednesday.  She is coming in from San Jose.  It is a huge relief that she will be at my house for 2 weeks.  She will take care of my mom and help me as well. 

I just feel like I can’t keep up.  I know it will all get better; I just don’t have the spunk I have had in the past.  I am trying to stay above water.

I am very thankful for all the support.  I appreciate all the prayer, thoughts, letters, cards, emails, Facebook posts and calls.  The love and concern is very comforting.  Thank you.

I feel safe in God's hands.

My friends are working so hard...Thank you

Upcoming Event - November 5, 2011

Many of my friends have joined together to create the following:

Chili Feed Benefit and Silent Auction for

Betty Whitney

Saturday, November 5 at 11:00am
Location: First Baptist Church of Joplin
633 S. Pearl Ave
Joplin, MO

This is a fundraising event, with 100% of the proceeds going to help offset Betty's medical expenses.

Tickets will be on sale for $10 each for adults.
Kids age 12-6 tickets are $5
Kids age 5 and under are free.
If you are interested in purchasing or selling tickets, volunteering at the dinner, or donating food or silent auction items please let us know on the event wall.

All checks can be made out to Betty Whitney.

Link:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Chili-Feed-Benefit-and-Silent-Auction-for-Betty-Whitney/268010053223196

Sponsors so far include:

The Brush and Blade Grooming Parlour
www.thebrushandblade.com

Ameristar Hotel and Casino Kansas City
www.ameristar.com

Derma-Tech
www.derma-tech.com

Club Tan Joplin
www.clubtaninc.com

Instant Karma Gourmet Hot Dogs

Judy's Ballroom Dance
www.judysballroomdancelessons.com

L.L. Sayers Joplin


I feel odd and selfish by posting this, but please know that I am not trying to be greedy or selfish.  My friends have put a lot of time and work into this to help out Tony and me with the expenses of this situation.  Please do not feel obligated in any way.  Being my friend and caring for me is enough.  I appreciate all my family and friends.  Thank you!

Waiting for the next step...

Nothing new to report as far as doctors and appointments. 

As of now I am just waiting for the surgery day.  To sum it up I am scheduled to have surgery September 30^th.  I am having a bilateral mastectomy, a sentinel lymph node biopsy and reconstructive surgery that day. I am told the recovery time is 4-6 weeks, but the surgeon has seen patients return to work in 2 weeks to a desk job.

I do have to have chemo treatments after the surgery, but I won’t find out the schedule for that until a week after the surgery.  I meet with the oncologist on the 6^th of October.

I am told that chemo will have the side effects of being tired, etc., but my oncologist said I should still be able to work when going through chemo treatments.

My employer has been informed and they are still very supportive and have approved my time off from work.  As of now I have only scheduled to be off 3 weeks with the hopes of getting to return to work sooner than that, but will see how it all goes.  I have enough vacation saved for the surgery recovery of 3 weeks, but am not sure how much time off I will need, if any, for chemo.

My feelings:

I really feel like I don’t have cancer.  It is always on my mind and I dream about it, but God has given me a peace about it.  I am ready to do the surgery and recover and get passed all this. I still seem to be more tired than normal, but that could be my bad eating habits, etc.

I want to express how blessed and thankful I am for all my friends and family.  Prayers are working.  All the emails, calls, text messages and Facebook contact showing the love and support is so healing.  I don’t have a chance to feel alone and scared.  I am so blessed.  Thank you!

Another HAPPY DANCE!!! 9-9-11

God is amazing!  I am so excited.  I got the results of my PET Scan and I have GREAT NEWS!
No signs of cancer anywhere else in my body.  WHOOP!! WHOOP!!

God has his hands around me and is taking care of me.  Thank you sooooo much for all the prayers.  They are working.  I really feel we are going to beat this!

Surgery is set for September 30th.  I will get more details Monday as to the prep work and times.
I am ready!

I have told my oncologist when the surgery is and I will get an appointment set with her a week after the surgery.  We will have the pathology reports back by then and she will give me my direction on chemo.

I need to report all this to my employer (which has been VERY understanding and supportive) and then I need to visit the Pink Door Boutique to get "fitted" for my special bra for after surgery.

I can't express enough how happy and thankful I am that things are going so well.
Again, I want to thank everyone for the prayers, thoughts, concerns, support and love.


I am sooooo blessed!!!!!


WHOOP WHOOP!

Plastic Surgeon visit 9-8-11

Another great visit! Today a friend and I went to Springfield to meet with the plastic surgeon about reconstructive surgery.  It was a very positive environment. I received a lot of information and a lot of questions were answered.
There was some preliminary preparation.
The visit helped me feel more comfortable with the direction I am going with treatment.
I am ready to take this on and beat it!
I find out today when surgery will be.  As of now, the surgery will be Sept 30th or Oct 7th.
Whoop..Let's get the show on the road.
I am ready to recover.

How I feel:
I feel great.  I am receiving so much love and support from everyone.  I REALLY appreciate it.
I am blessed. Things are really going well for the situation.
I am loved.  God is amazing and seeing me through all this.
Thank you!!!

PET Scan 9-7-11

Today I had a PET Scan. At the bottom of this post is an explanation of a PET Scan.
It went really well.  I didn't even have to pay a co-pay!!! :-)
I basically got a nap--it was about an hour nap.  It was great.
I should get the results Friday or Monday.  I will post the results as soon as I can.

Oh, GOOD NEWS--I got the results on the HER2 factor and I am NEGATIVE!!
One less treatment after surgery for me!
HER2 is human epidermal growth factor receptor-2
It is something that can feed cancer.
WHOOOP!

Below is information on a PET Scan.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Computed Tomography (CT) imaging have become essential diagnostic tools physicians use to reveal the presence and severity of cancers. PET/CT imaging helps physicians detect cancer, evaluate the extent of disease, select the most appropriate treatments, determine if the therapy is working, and detect any recurrent tumors.

Before a PET/CT scan, the patient receives an intravenous injection of radioactive glucose. Many cancer cells are highly metabolic and rapidly synthesize the radioactive glucose. Information regarding the location of abnormal levels of radioactive glucose obtained from the whole-body PET/CT scan helps physicians effectively pinpoint the source of cancer and detect whether cancer is isolated to one specific area or has spread to other organs.

From this information physicians can plan an effective treatment strategy. Treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, systemic therapy, or a combination therapy where one or more of these options are combined.

During the course of treatment, the information from the PET/CT scan allows physicians to monitor the effectiveness of cancer therapies and provides physicians with the opportunity to change the treatment strategy if it is not working, avoiding the cost and discomfort of ineffective therapeutic procedures.
After completing the treatment regimen, a follow-up whole-body PET/CT scan can provide information to assess if the treatment was successful and if areas that were previously abnormally metabolically active have responded. Often, scar tissue at the site of surgical resection or radiation treatment may appear as an abnormality on the CT scan. The PET portion of the PET/CT scan can detect residual disease within the scar tissue and indicate if the treatment was successful or if the tumor has returned.
PET/CT scans provide information to help physicians:

• Locate the site of the cancer
• Determine the size of the tumor
• Differentiate benign from malignant growths
• Discover if the cancer has spread
• Select treatments that are likely to be appropriate
• Monitor the success of therapy
• Detect any recurrent tumors

How I am feeling - September 6, 2011

Over the weekend I realized that:

• I am so thankful.
• I am overwhelmed.  
• I am forgetful.  
• I am tired.
• I am scared.

I am really thankful for all my friends and family.  Everyone is so comforting.  People listen to me. I am checked on regularly.  People are offering to help in anyway they can.  One friend wants to have a fundraiser for medical expenses.  One friend has a son that is going to wear hot pink shoe laces in his football cleats/shoes in honor of me. Another friend offered to shave his head if I lose all my hair during chemo.  I am very appreciative of the love, thoughts, prayers, concerns...all of it.  God has blessed me.
I pray that I do what I am supposed to do to glorify God through all this.
I feel like I have so much to do and so little time. Not that I think I am running out of time, I just feel like I have a lot to do. I am not doing well at balancing my time. I have things at home I need to do, paperwork, bills, etc.  I feel very unorganized. I think it is because I am not a 100% right now and I am falling behind on things in life.
I really think that the mental aspect of this is getting to me.  I wasn't so tired before Monday, August 29th. My body gets physically exhausted.  I forget a lot of things. I am assuming it is because my mind is elsewhere.
I have had crazy dreams.  One dream was about me checking the mirror throughout the day to see my hairline as it diminished.  Weird.  Last night I had a dream that all my friends had to take a test to see if they had cancer or not and I couldn't keep track of when results would be in for each friend.
Every time I have a pain in my body I automatically associate it with cancer. I am so scared that it has spread all ready.  
I also don't want others to think I feel sorry for myself.  And I really hope I don't start feeling sorry for myself.
I am also having a hard time determining who I need to tell and how to tell him/her. There are long time friends that I want to tell because I would want to know if the situation was reversed. I have friends that we don't keep in constant contact with each other, but we are still very good friends.
And I don't want to tell the story.  I really just want to send an email and say please read the blog if you are interested.  I hope that isn't shallow or lazy.  

September 1, 2011 Meeting with Oncology

Today I met with Dr. Kent.  She is in oncology.
The facts:
She confirmed that the size is about 1.9cm. It could be bigger, but they are pretty certain of the size. It is hard to tell for sure.
I am Estrogen and Progesterone positive so I will need to have hormonal therapy at the end of everything. She said being positive for these 2 is a good thing.
I will need chemotherapy after surgery.  The specifics on that will be determined after surgery.
She was AMAZING.  She was very thorough and patient.  She spent a lot of time with me explaining everything and answering questions.
I am a candidate for a lumpectomy or mastectomy.  She said both procedures are just effective as the other.
Basically it is totally up to me as to what to have done.
Now I have an appointment to have a PET scan Wednesday the 7th at 11:45. This will help see if I have cancer anywhere else in my body.  The results are usually in the next day or so.  That is awesome.
How I feel after the appointment:
First of all, I am VERY THANKFUL that things are going so well.  I appreciate all my friends and family and the support group that surrounds me. God has blessed me with the love and support. It is so comforting.
The appointment today solidified the fact in my head that I have cancer.  I am still processing it.  I have been on such a "happy high" since I found out that I have such a good chance to beat this that I think I forgot about what I have.  I am not dwelling on it, but it is sinking in more.  It is now the evening time and I already feel better, but I was pretty cranky after the appointment.  I am scared of the chemo.  I am scared to lose my hair. Yes, I am afraid of what I will look like, but even more, losing my hair is the one thing that solidifies what I have.
I guess before thinking about the situation-having surgery was just that: having surgery. But surgery and chemo means it is more than just a surgery.
BUT, I am okay now.  I do feel better. I think I just needed to process it.  There is so much to learn about this. There are decisions to be made and research to be done.