Jury is in...

Well, I wanted to wait until we got all the info on Mama to post this.
On Monday, my Mama's birthday, her radiologist phoned to say that her latest biopsy confirmed that she does, in fact, have breast cancer. Could the fates give my family a fucking break now? Seriously?!
The great news is that her cancer is DCIS: ductal carcinoma in-situ. This means that her cancer is confined to her ducts ... as opposed to having infiltrated the surrounding tissue.
This is the earliest stage of breast cancer a person can have. So, all in all, she has a wonderful prognosis.
Unfortunately, many people (including some doctors) are under the impression that DCIS is a "pre-cancer", as it's not become invasive. To them, I say, "YOU ARE HORRIBLY MISTAKEN."
I have a young-ish girlfriend that was diagnosed with the VERY same disease and staging. She, a year or so later, metasticised. To say that it wasn't cancer seems to be an absolute fallacy, considering the fact that the went metastatic.
Mama, ever the warrior, has opted for a bi-lateral mastectomy. She wants to be very aggressive in her treatment. I CANNOT AGREE MORE. Her surgeon is on board with this. The surgeon will also perform a sentinel node biopsy to make sure that, for some freakish reason, the cancer hasn't spread to her nodes. I'm so pleased with this surgeon. I think it helps that she is a breast cancer survivor herself. Blessed be!
So, thanks to the angel that is my brother Josh, Silas and I will be able fly back to South Carolina next week. I'll take care of Mama and Silas will spend some much needed time with my family that misses him so terribly much.
We'll fight it ... again. We'll kick its ass ... again. At this point, cancer, I'd advise not knocking on our doors any longer. You'll lose.
In other news, my scans came back. I'M CANCER FREE!!! After having spoken to Mama about her pathology, this put me over the edge. Poor Linda, the receptionist at Dr. Fer's office, probably felt so bad when she told me the great news. I was balling on the phone. They've never see me like that. I'm generally the "hey, beat the shit outta it and move on" sort of gal. But, lot's of personal stuff has been brewing. So, hearing this news (when I thought that it was gonna be bad) was, simply, overwhelming.
So, off we go to South Carolina next week. Kevin and Tootsie will hold down the fort while I teach Mama how to "strip" her JP drains. I'm like Macgyver with that stuff.
Thanks for all the e-mails and love.
I'm still taking donations for my cousin Angie Kemp that was just diagnosed and has no insurance. Let me know if you're interested.
xoxo
Anna