Saturday 13 October 2007

It seems that our October/November adventures will be Stateside.

Several weeks ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was detected during my routine mammogram while I was in Houston on business in late September. I received the call from my doctor once I was back in London. After a week of agonizing uncertainty, I flew home to Houston for follow up. Ray followed a few days later and we are both here now with family. Both of our employers were extremely supportive in my seeking treatment in Houston and have been following our progress.

I spent several days in Houston meeting with a very impressive team of specialists who will be coordinating my medical care. I was armed with research and questions (thanks to my good friends back home) and was as prepared as I could be. My cancer is invasive lobular disease and is aggressive. The good news is that it was detected on the mammogram. There was, of course, a certain sense of urgency in getting this taken care of and given our international circumstances; the physicians have been great in expediting the process.

I had surgery on Tuesday, October 9 here in Houston. After removing the sentinel lymph node, I underwent a partial mastectomy. The initial pathology reports on the lymph node were clear, indicating that the cancer has likely not spread beyond the breast. Of course, the nodes are now sent to pathology lab for more intensive review and confirmation and we are awaiting the results. It also appears that I am a good candidate for a new kind of radiation therapy. This therapy is localized and is much more intensive than typical radiation therapy. It involves therapy twice per day for five days (rather than the standard 6 weeks). Of course, I will be observed quite closely during this timeframe and will have a fairly limited range of activity during the treatment phase. We are quite optimistic about this therapy and are hoping that it can be used. I meet with my specialist team again next week and should have all test results as well as a game plan by then. Once I have a plan, I can execute. It’s the uncertainty that is the most frustrating right now.

We have been overwhelmed by the support that we have received from around the world. The beautiful flowers, cards, emails and text messages are so very much appreciated. Good wishes, thoughts and prayers from our friends, family and colleagues are certainly helping us through this difficult time. I know that we are where we need to be. Ray plans to be here with me through the treatment and I am blessed with wonderful family and friends to complete my support network.

I’ll post again when we have received final pathology reports and we have a treatment plan. In the meantime, enjoy reading our European adventures for the last 16 months. We plan many more after this is over and look forward to picking up where we left off. I’m sure Ray will find a few odd photo opportunities and park benches while we are here in Houston to add along the way.