Fight Like a Girl

Since getting back from Paris I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off to various appointments and running various errands to get ready for my upcoming procedures. Sorry I have not had time for an update until today! 

First, gotta give a shout out to my work family. They pulled one over on me and planned quite the surprise “Fight Like a Girl” party for me last Sunday. Even Chad was in on it.

Can’t thank you guys enough for planning such a thoughtful outpouring of support.

Meanwhile, today is a big day in my treatment that I did not mention in my first blog post. My surgical oncologist will be performing a sentinel node biopsy.  You may have seen on my prayer list to be praying that the cancer has not spread into my lymph system. Once removed, these nodes will tell us the answer to that prayer request.  

All the unknowns floating around out there these last few weeks have been one of the hardest parts of my breast cancer diagnosis.

Question: “What’s the plan?” 

Me: “I don’t know”

Question: “Will you need chemo and/or radiation”

Me: “I don’t know”

Question: “What stage is your cancer”

Me: “I don’t know”

Question: “Was it caught early?”

Me: “I don’t know”

And on the list goes. One other unknown, that was on my prayer list as well, was whether or not I have a gene mutation. I did receive these results, and they are negative (mostly).  In one of the genes that were tested, I have what is called a “variant of unknown significance.” Essentially, it’s a stray from the normal gene and “they” haven’t figured out what it means yet. Could be significant, could be insignificant; we don’t know at this point, and genetic counselors can't make any treatment plan recommendations based on this kind of result. Kinda frustrating - not gonna lie. That said, I am thankful I did not have a gene mutation that (for now anyway) will require me to worry about additional preventative surgeries.  

I continue to be comforted by the Lord and am reminded today of 2 Corinthians 12:9-10. “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Thank you Lord, for how you provide strength for the weak.