As some of you know Fall 2005 and Spring 2006 were very exciting times for the Ferguson household - Jill Morgan and Jeff Ferguson got married on October 15, 2005 and Carrie Ferguson and Justin Rehder got married on May 6, 2006.
A week after Justin & Carrie's wedding I had my yearly mammogram scheduled - a day or two after the mammogram I got a call that they would like for me to come in for an ultrasound because they had seen something. So I did. Let me tell you that this was not scary for me, because at the time I had my base mammogram done, they had asked me to do the same thing - and found nothing. Well, this time they found something that they felt they needed to investigate further. Following the ultrasound, they did a stereotactical biopsy. (If I never hear those words again, it won't be too soon!) The results came back that I had cancer - more specifically that I had Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS). My GP who broke the news to me told me that it was considered Stage 0 due to the fact that it was limited inside one of the ducts. There's good news and bad news he said - the bad news is you have breast cancer - the good news is that it's the most treatable kind of breast cancer. I got the diagnosis in late May or early June, then there were a flurry of Dr. appointments - I was set up with an Oncologist and a Radiation Oncologist, and also was sent to see a Surgeon. And then came the discussion of what we were going to do from there - first there would be surgery, a lumpectomy and also the sentinel lymph node was taken out (which happened on July 17, 2006) then as a precaution, radiation everyday Monday through Friday (which started on August 21, 2006 and ran through September 29, 2006).
Just a gentle reminder, without my yearly check-up, we would not have found this cancer in the timeframe to make it so easily treatable. If you've not had your exam, please schedule it. Early detection is the key to finding, treating and moving past cancer. Its really no big deal.
I was feeling very good about coming up on my five year anniversary this May WHEN . . .
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