launchwellness-blog

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We’ve finally graduated from Lunada Bay Elementary!! 2002-2018. Congratulations Gavin - We’re so proud of our little man!

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Science Experiment- Mix 7 Mentos to three drinks - Lemonade, 7 Up and Cherry Coke. See which one reacts the most! #scienceday

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Lumpectomy and Then What?

Phew!!! The decision was finally made – I was to have a lumpectomy of my right breast to remove the known cancer. A lumpectomy usually removes the least amount of breast tissue. The surgeon removes the cancer and a small portion or margin of the surrounding tissue, but not the breast itself. They also chose to remove an area of dense breast tissue called a fibroadenoma. Fibroadenomas are common benign (non-cancerous) breast tumors made up of both glandular tissue and stromal (connective) tissue. Fibroadenomas are most common in women in their 20s and 30s, but they can be found in women of any age. They tend to shrink after a woman goes through menopause. Dr. Kahn said it wasn’t necessary to remove the fibroadenoma but I figured if it was going to cause me potential trouble in the future, why not

take it out while they were in there?

In addition to the lumpectomy, I made the decision to have breast reconstruction/augmentation – I wouldn’t want to be “lop-sided”, but there were upsides and downsides to this decision and as a result, I had to put in contingency plans, in the event that the surgical pathology suggested a different treatment option would produce a better outcome.

Plan A: Lumpectomy with Intraoperative Radiation (IORT) and oncoplasty. Intraoperative radiation therapy (IORT) is a treatment for cancer in which the radiation is delivered directly to a small area of the body, all at once. This is different from the usual method of delivering radiation, in which a larger part of the body (such as an entire organ) receives radiation for a longer period of time. Oncoplastic surgery combines the latest plastic surgery techniques with breast surgical oncology. When a large lumpectomy is required that will leave the breast distorted, the remaining tissue is sculpted to realign the nipple and areola and restore a natural appearance to the breast shape. The opposite breast will also be modified to create symmetry. This is a good option for patients who are candidates for breast conservation therapy or lumpectomy, and are also candidates for breast reduction or mastopexy (breast lift).

I’d get out of this mess in one day. You have no idea how hard I prayed for Plan A to come through for me.

Plan B: If the pathology of the tumor didn’t qualify for IORT, meaning if it was bigger than anticipated OR they found cancer cells in my lymph nodes, they would have to abort IORT and stick with removing the cancer, the lymph nodes, perform oncoplasty and augmentation as in the original plan. The most depressing downside of this option was that it meant I would most likely need to take the traditional, scientifically proven route, chemotherapy and radiation. It would be a long road ahead of me.

I had to hope and pray for the best, Plan A, and be prepared for the worst - Plan B.

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Back to School - Health 101

So where did I leave off... oh yes, a year ago, August 9th we returned from the house we purchased in Austin, to begin educating myself with all things breast cancer.

Despite the fact that I have been working in healthcare for the past 25 years, I really had no idea what it meant to have "breast cancer". You hear about so many women who have faced it and beat it. You see the pink ribbons posted, pink license plates, pink wrist bands, the Susan Komen Walk advertised, October Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Hollywood Stars who survived breast cancer like Sheryl Crow, Christina Applegate & Melissa Ethridge, but I truly didn't have the remotest idea about the complexities of this disease. Call me "totally clueless".

Lucky for me, living in Los Angeles, I had many choices for great cancer treatment - UCLA, City of Hope, USC, Cedars Sinai and others. That coupled with the fact that over the years, working in healthcare, I have been blessed with the opportunity to establish a deep network and close relationships with health care executives and providers across the country, and as a result, I had access to the top physicians in the area. I also had no qualms whatsoever, to cash in on those relationships and ask for a few "favors". What good is it to have "connections" and not use them, right?

I chose to go with Hoag - Keck Medicine of USC program. It was their team of physicians and staff that introduced me to "breast cancer" and walked me through, in great detail, what my personal "cancer' was and the treatment options I had. From the moment I walked into the office, I felt a sense of comfort. Each doctor or nurse I encountered treated me with respect, spent all the time I needed on cancer education, answered all my questions, and considered my opinions & personal situation.

Despite the time and attention each physician took, it still didn't change how much I needed to learn... and QUICK! There were so many physicians on the treatment team... surgical oncologists, medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons, infusions specialists, genetic counselors and nurse navigators. I went to what felt like a million doctor appointments and each had their opinion about the treatment options - lumpectomy, mastectomy, double mastectomy, interoperative radiation therapy, external whole beam radiation for 1 week, 3 weeks, 6 weeks, oncoplasty, chemotherapy, therapy - AAAHHHH!

One of the things I did learn was that each individual's cancer is unique and the treatment plan would be specifically created from the post surgical test results. There were so many different variables and no one, was certain, at this point, what the exact outcome would be. They did confirm one thing - expect the plan to potentially change. They could only definitively determine the type of cancer - where, when and what stage I was, when the surgery & pathology results were complete. From the initial diagnostic tests, it all looked like it was early stage so I was hanging on to the hope that this would be the case.

If you know me well, too many variables, puts me over the edge. Not being in control and not knowing what my outcome would be post surgery, was not an environment that I was used to being in. This was completely out of my comfort zone. I needed to make a decision and quick, so that I could get to the next step. Ok - here goes.... I decided to do a lumpectomy with IORT (interoperative radiation therapy). Based on the initial results of my biopsy and MRI's, it looked like I was a candidate for this new technique which allows me to reduce radiation therapy from 7 weeks to 1 day. I prayed and crossed my fingers that this would be the easiest way out.

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One Year Later

I can't believe it's been exactly one year since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The journey was slooowwww but yet fast, all at the same time, and so much has transpired.

So, you may be wondering why I stopped sharing about my journey.... Well, despite the fact that I felt like crap, "life" continued to happen, and I had another massive family crisis that took precedence (as if I didn't have enough on my plate) during this time. When it rains, it pours and it was dumping hard.

With the little energy that I had, my focus had to go there, so writing went on the back burner. I was too physically and emotionally spent to do anything else but just survive each day. I'll share that story, too, but for now, I'll finish this one first - the next one may be longer.

Exactly one year ago, I was at the Walk with Sally - White Lights White Nights event in Manhattan Beach - a non-profit committed to providing comfort to children debilitated by the emotional experience of living with or losing a parent to cancer. I remember standing in the audience, listening to the stories of children who had lost parents from cancer and waiting for my own diagnosis in the coming days.

Fast forward, a year later, I recently attended the Walk with Sally fundraiser again and celebrated my birthday - happy to be back to full health but with renewed vigor and focus on the important things in life.

I'm blessed to have family, friends, and church who supported me from start to finish and this story is dedicated to all those who helped me get through one of the most challenging times in my life.

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Hit the Pause Button

Stunned, dazed and confused - picture that walking out of the doctor's office. I remember getting in the car and thinking that this had to be a dream, or rather a nightmare. I took a few deep breaths to get my panic attack under control and drove home.... to what?

OMG...it hit me as I pulled into the driveway... we're supposed to be moving to Austin the following morning at 8 am. Holy Shit!! Everything was done, bought the dream lake house in Austin (Rough Hollow Lakeway Tx), "check", shipped the boat, "check", registered the kids in the new school, "check", LA house for sale, "check", and jobs set up, "check". The only thing left was to pack the furniture & hop on a one way flight from California to Texas.

Since I had no idea what the cancer diagnosis meant (was it surgery? chemo? short term or long term illness? radiation? a slow death?) the only thing I could actually do was to cancel the movers and spend the rest of the afternoon freaking out & trying to figure out what to do next.

Well....we didn't figure it out because... it was way too much to digest and so surreal. I felt fine - no different from the day before, yet our lives were changed in an instant. The only thing Frank and I could come up with was to hit the "pause button" until we got more clarity.

We decided to use the one way tickets to Austin and get the "Hell out of Dodge", hit the lake, get some wakeboarding in, watch the sunsets from our deck, drink heavily, hang out with the kids, celebrate my birthday and pray hard that God would give us some answers.

After 10 days of coming up with Plan A, B, C - X, Y & Z, we decided plans were over-rated at this point and the best course of action was to head back to LA and learn more about my diagnosis and what options I had before we made any drastic changes. One thing we were sure of... Our family and friends (our entire support structure) were all back home and trying to go through this alone in a strange city, with strange doctors and no friends or family, would have just been plain stupid.

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Whuuuuut?

Monday, July 25th, (I'll never forget the day) finally arrived and I was fairly calm, cool and collected because, in my mind, the results from the biopsy were going to be benign. No big deal. The call finally came in from the diagnostic center that afternoon asking me to come in to the office per "typical protocol"... Really? Couldn't they just give me the results over the phone? I'm in the middle of moving to Austin and didn't have time for these inconveniences! My husband and mom insisted on coming with me, "just in case" but again, it was a non-issue, right?

Dr. David Chan (medical oncologist) comes in, sits down at the desk and after some niceties states, "After reviewing the results of the mammogram and the biopsy, we have concluded that you have breast cancer- I'm so sorry."

"WHUUUUUT? I don't think I heard you clearly...come again?" I asked. "Yes, you have breast cancer," Dr. Chan repeated. Total silence...My mind went completely blank - I was completely stunned. I looked over at my husband and my mom - expressions of shock. Seeing the look on their faces broke my heart and then I started to cry.

Everything Dr. Chan and the nurse said after that was so faint, as if I was hearing it from a million miles away. Every paper, folder, and appointment card they handed me was as if I was viewing it through a slow motion lens. Every explanation of the diagnosis was incomprehensible. Thank God, my husband and mom were there to pick up the pieces & support me through this crushing, mind blowing news.

Whuuut in the world was happening? Whuuuut do I do? Whuuuuut next? My family needs me.

More on Emotions & Cancer

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A Foreshadow

Ironically, over the weekend, while I was anxiously awaiting the news of my biopsy results, my daughter Cami and I had planned to attend the "Walk with Sally" fundraising event in Manhattan Beach, in support of a mentorship program for children whose parents, guardians or siblings have cancer or have succumbed to cancer. Nick Arquette, the founder and CEO of the charity, is a friend of mine and I wanted to support his cause. We also had the opportunity to recognize my husband's mom, Mary, as she passed from cancer a few years ago.

His story - Sally was Nick Arquette’s mom. He and his brother lived with her in Northern California while she was diagnosed with and battling breast cancer. They struggled to try to make sense of why their mother was going through this and at the same time longed to have a mother who was just like all the other mom’s they saw with their friends. As the mounting pressures of cancer took their toll, this single mother could no longer care for her two sons and Nick and his brother moved to Idaho to live with their father. The impact of cancer had started to take it’s toll.

At just 11 years old Nick realized that cancer changes everything… he and his brother had to leave everything they had known, school, friends, family, and move to start a new life with their father in Idaho. Although he had his brother, Nick had always wanted someone who could understand what he was going through since his friends hadn’t really been exposed to cancer in their own lives yet. It reminds me so much of what my kids may be going through right now - breaks my heart. More about Walk with Sally Mentor Program

Not sure if it was a foreshadowing of what was to come, but on reflection, it sure does seem like it now. Cancer, at least from what I was aware of at the time, did not run on my side of the family. Hmmmm....

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I Don't Have Time For This!

Really, right now? Nothing like this comes at a "good time", of course.

Our family was right in the middle of a move from Los Angeles to Austin (that's another story in an of itself). I was in the middle of packing boxes on Sunday night and had two choices...push this, most likely benign situation, off until after we moved to Austin OR see if I could have my OBGYN Zhanna Pinkus, MD squeeze me in on Monday for a quick "check" and ease my mind of any serious consequence. So, I opted for the latter. Lynette Miya, NP was gracious enough to see me on Monday morning & my daughter later in the week.

So the diagnostic journey began... ultrasound on Monday with Lynette (not a cyst - but what was it?), a diagnostic mammogram on Wednesday (a definitive mass - but still, what was it?), and biopsy on Thursday, (this will definitively tell me what it is), completed at Torrance Memorial Vasek Polak Breast Diagnostic Imaging Center. A quick side note - Each one of these healthcare providers were incredibly supportive & positive throughout the entire process! All the procedures were easy to do & painless but brought slightly a little more anxiety about the possibility of "something" more serious. However, in the back of my mind, my focus stayed solely on the fact that it was some minor benign fibroadenoma that could be removed easily with surgery or left alone. Unfortunately, the biopsy results would not be available until the following Monday (the day before the movers were set to pack up the house - I didn't have time for this!) And so the longest wait EVER commenced over the weekend.

Learn more about Breast Cancer Diagnosis and the Breast Cancer Screening Guidelines.

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New post #ontheblog today! Check out http://www.mylaunchcoach.com/blog for a delicious, healthy and simple recipe for Slow-Cooker Quinoa-Summer Squash Casserole!

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Spring has sprung! New post #ontheblog today about #allergies! Check it out at http://www.mylaunchcoach.com/blog

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Studies show brown-bagging your midday meal is a key weight-loss trick, but that hardly means eating another boring salad. Try spicing your lunch up with a balance of protein, carbs, and veggies!

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NaturAlmond is a great nut butter made of nothing but roasted almonds and a touch of sea salt...it's "almond joy!"

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If you like pilates, try stand-up paddling (SUP). Each stroke tones your triceps, gluten, back and abs!

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Zap a headache by snacking on watermelon! This water-rich fruit transports key nutrients to the brain and keeps you hydrated.

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Be the best you can be.

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Use fruits spreads and chutneys to add fruit to your diet. Fig marmalade is great on all kinds of vegetarian sandwiches and goes well with pork, chicken, & turkey. Get your fruit in today!