Surgery Scheduled etc.

Hello Everyone-

Here is the latest news, the most significant being that Brooke now has a firm date scheduled for surgery and also has made a decision about the surgery itself.  Surgery is scheduled for Friday October 5th at American Fork hospital. Brooke will undergo a bi-lateral mastectomy, have lymph nodes removed to see if the cancer has spread, receive a port for chemo and blood draws, and undergo the first phase of reconstructive surgery.

The choice to have the mastectomy is obviously a very tough decision, but we both feel strongly that it's the right way to go.  There are a number of reasons for making that decision, including the findings from the MRI, the scare a couple of years ago when she had surgery to remove a pre-cancerous mass, peace of mind for the future, not wanting to have an MRI or mammogram every six months, the likelihood that she won't need radiation, and simply having cancer more than once now.

We still are waiting for results from the genetic testing, but will move forward with the surgery based on all the other factors regardless of what we hear on that test.  In addition to breast cancer, the genetic test is also an indicator for ovarian cancer, so if it comes back positive (which we expect frankly, though we obviously don't know), there may be some implications for Brooke down the road, and it will certainly suggest some additional screening for our children.

As far as the timing for the surgery, we had decided several days ago to put it off until the third week of October for a number of family and work reasons and thought that would be okay.  Then yesterday Brooke got a call from the surgeon encouraging us to do it sooner.  She (the surgeon) said that the surgery should be done within a month of the diagnosis.  She also said that although it was our call to delay surgery if we chose to, she strongly recommended going ahead on October 5th.  That obviously got our attention and so we are moving ahead.

We visited the plastic surgeon today and have a better idea about what to expect on that front.  The surgery will likely last about 4-5 hours, including both the mastectomy and the reconstructive piece.  They expect Brooke to be in the hospital for 2-3 days.

So that's the latest from here.  Facing the surgery next week has made this somehow seem both more real and more imminent, and both Brooke and I are feeling that a bit right now.  Your thoughts, prayers, calls, visits, texts, and emails are very much appreciated and are helping to sustain us.  Thank you for your love and kindness.  More news soon to come.

- John