And so it begins...

It is going on 8pm Wednesday evening; it has been a very busy day. Michelle and I just got home from having dinner with two men from Ames, Iowa who are looking to open a post-prison ministry home. But hey, that's not why you would be coming here to check this blog, now is it! :-)

We had the appointment this morning/afternoon with our Oncologist, Dr. Hantel. We were reminded again of why we really like him; what a wonderful, humble doctor he is!! We wish we had a ton of new information to share with you but we don't know much more than we did before we met with him, apart from what tests Michelle will need to go through and when those tests will be performed. Those tests would be a PET scan, bone scan and CT scan, along with a battery of blood tests. We actually got the blood tests done today (no results, sorry!), the CT scan is tomorrow, the PET scan is Friday and the bone scan is on Monday.

Dr. Hantel told us today that Michelle is definitely in a unique group; less than 1% of breast cancer patients that have a full mastectomy followed by chemotherapy have a recurrence at the surgery site. Just another tidbit of info that adds to the amazement of being "here" again. That being the case, even he was mildly surprised by the reason for us being there. Still, he seemed pretty optimistic that it is a local recurrence, though we won't know for sure until all the test results are in. Once the results are in we will be able to come up with the treatment plan. Providing the cancer is localized, we will hopefully be able to have the surgery inside of two weeks followed by radiation therapy once Michelle heals up (about 4-5 weeks after surgery). Depending on readings of some of the cancer "markers" (HER2/neu, estrogen receptor, etc.) from the biopsy she may also need to take some additional treatments, such as Herceptin or Tamoxifen (more on those later), but more than likely no chemotherapy. If the cancer is not localized, well, that will certainly make things a little more difficult but not untreatable to be sure.

So, how to pray... pray that all the tests go well and come back negative for a spreading of the cancer which will mean it is localized; pray that the surgery can be accomplished within the next two weeks; pray for strength, comfort and peace for all of us, but especially for Michelle; pray for a complete healing. More prayers to come... best of all, pray as the Lord leads you!

We love each of you dearly, thank you for your prayers! Grace and peace...