More Tests

Hello there...
After a fun weekend exploring Hawaii with Sara's family, it is time to figure out what "the lump" consists of. Sara is having a biopsy tomorrow morning. The surgeon is going to use an ultrasound machine to find the densest portion of the mass and take a "plug of tissue" out. He is also going to take a needle biopsy of the lymph nodes in her left armpit. Then on Wednesday, we are meeting with a genetic counselor. They are going to "sample her DNA" to see if she inherited a gene mutation called BRCA 1 or BRCA 2. Basically, the BRCA mutation increases the likelihood that breast cancer cells will form at some point (in Dr. Brad terms).

At this point, we know that there will be surgery (the operating room is scheduled for Friday morning), but the extent of the surgery depends on the outcome of the biopsy results. Here are the options.

1) The entire mass is contained within the breast tissue...Sara gets a mastectomy (normally, they would do a lumpectomy, but based on the size of the mass relative to the breast, she has opted for a mastectomy).

2) The lymph nodes show some cancer cells...Sara gets a radical mastectomy (entire breast and lymph nodes) followed by chemo (more details later if this is the case). PRAY THAT THIS IS NOT THE CASE!!!

3) If genetic testing shows that she has the BRCA mutation...Sara gets a double mastectomy. We have decided that we would rather them take both boobs now, rather than go through this again in the future. The docs will "reconstruct" during the same surgery.

So, this week, we should finally have most of our questions answered. We are ready to get past the UNKNOWN portion of this journey.

THANK YOU for all your love, support, and prayers. We are still feeling a complete peace about this entire ordeal.

We have not had internet access during the past few days, thus the delay in updating the blog. I'll update it once we hear back from the docs in the middle of the week. Take care and THANK YOU!

Love, The Sullivans