{"id":655,"date":"2014-07-02T08:41:41","date_gmt":"2014-07-02T15:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/?p=655"},"modified":"2014-07-02T08:41:41","modified_gmt":"2014-07-02T15:41:41","slug":"independence-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/?p=655","title":{"rendered":"Independence Day"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Recuperating.\"<\/a>

Recuperating<\/em>.<\/p><\/div>\n

This coming 4th of July, I will celebrate the independence of a small tumor from my left breast.\u00a0 Talk about life’s curveballs!\u00a0 Not something I ever expected — colon cancer runs in the family, not breast cancer.<\/p>\n

Although the guidelines have now changed, I’ve been getting regular mammograms every year for at least five years.\u00a0 A couple of years ago I was called back for an ultrasound as they found an abnormality; I was totally freaked out, but fortunately it was for naught.\u00a0 So when I got called back after my May 16 mammogram, I wasn’t concerned.\u00a0 (My breast tissue is dense, so it can be hard to read with just a mammogram).<\/p>\n

During the ultrasound the doc was a tad concerned about one area (appeared as shading), but not particularly so.\u00a0 He said it very well could be how the breast tissue was formed, but he recommended getting a biopsy “just in case.”\u00a0 Again, I wasn’t concerned.\u00a0 Hell, I even scheduled the biopsy three days before a 50-mile race!\u00a0 (My \u00fcber expensive yet highly supportive bra earned its keep: I ran a 30-minute personal best.)<\/p>\n

They said I would likely get my biopsy results two days later.\u00a0 Friday came and went with no call, but I wasn’t worried.\u00a0 Monday came and went, and I decided if I didn’t hear by Tuesday afternoon, I’d call.\u00a0 My darling and I were sitting on the couch Facebooking Tuesday morning when the phone rang; my heart jumped into my throat when I heard my doctor’s voice.\u00a0 (Typically if it’s good news then a nurse calls).\u00a0 Once I heard the word “cancer” come out of her mouth I pretty much became oblivious to anything else she said.\u00a0 (It was like the adults in a “Charlie Brown” cartoon: “WAH WAH WAH WAAH, WAH WAH WAH WAAH.”)<\/p>\n

I had to have her repeat what I had; she used the terms “infiltrating lobular, low-grade” and “in-situ.”\u00a0 She had made an appointment for me to meet with a breast cancer surgeon that coming Friday (the 13th, no less.)\u00a0 I hung up the phone and burst into tears.\u00a0 As I dialed my sister to inform her, my darling turned to Dr. Google with the information we had.\u00a0 As I blubbered to my sister about having cancer, he’s saying, “It’s not cancer!”\u00a0 Rather, it was “lobular carcinoma in-situ (LCIS),” which is not considered a “true” cancer.\u00a0 However, it means you’re at a greater risk for developing cancer in the future, so regular screenings and hormone therapy are recommended.<\/p>\n

This information helped relieve me a bit, and I decided to hold off on telling my other siblings and my mom until after I met with the surgeon.\u00a0 But the waiting was the worst part (patience is not one of my virtues).\u00a0 It also gave me time to turn to Dr. Google myself.\u00a0 I kept coming back to the word “infiltrating;” while “in-situ” means “in place, “infiltrating,” well, means the exact opposite.\u00a0 My worries returned but all I could do was wait to meet with the surgeon.<\/p>\n

Turns out I had both LCIS and “infiltrating lobular carcinoma” (also called “invasive”) of the left breast.\u00a0 It’s the second most common type of breast cancer (after ductal carcinoma).\u00a0 Fortunately it was VERY low-grade (stage 1A), requiring only a lumpectomy and most likely just radiation therapy rather than chemo.\u00a0 I had the lumpectomy yesterday, and the surgery went well.\u00a0 The surgeon will present my case to a “tumor board” for recommendations on my ongoing treatment, which I should hear about within a week.\u00a0 I’ll then most likely have at least three weeks of radiation, 5 days\/week.<\/p>\n

Overall I’m in good spirits and am happy to have the damn thing out of me.\u00a0 However, my emotions have been out of whack — I would start crying for no apparent reason — but now that the surgery is over I’m feeling much better.\u00a0 It was definitely more of a “Fuck — this is inconvenient” sort of sadness\/fear than a “I’M GOING TO DIE!” sort.\u00a0 Once I was diagnosed I made the decision to pull out of the IMTUF 100 at the end of September; it’s a much more gnarly race than Cascade Crest and I knew the training for that would be physically and mentally taxing.\u00a0 However, I had hoped to still be able to run the White River 50 at the end of July and the Waldo 100K in mid August.\u00a0 But given my radiation won’t start for a couple of weeks, I pulled out of Waldo yesterday as that was the deadline for getting a partial refund.\u00a0 (White River is also in question, but I should be able to defer.\u00a0 If I can’t run, I’ll volunteer at an aid station.\u00a0 I will, however, run the Tunnel Marathon next weekend; it’s only 26.2 miles, after all \ud83d\ude09 )<\/p>\n

I’m confident this is merely a blip.\u00a0 I had been feeling a bit burned out lately (since Cajun Coyote I’ve run three more 100-milers), so this forced break will be good for me.\u00a0 I’m already thinking of other, less strenuous, adventures for the summer, possibly hiking either the Enchantments or the Wonderland Trail.\u00a0 Cancer can’t hold me back!<\/p>\n

So ladies — please get your boobies checked, or at least be diligent in doing self breast exams.\u00a0 (My darling has promised to help me with mine \ud83d\ude42\u00a0 )<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This coming 4th of July, I will celebrate the independence of a small tumor from my left breast.\u00a0 Talk about life’s curveballs!\u00a0 Not something I ever expected — colon cancer runs in the family, not breast cancer. Although the guidelines have now changed, I’ve been getting regular mammograms every year for at least five years.\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=655"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":659,"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655\/revisions\/659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eatdrinkrunwoman.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}