I call it day 1 because it is the day the pathology report came back. It is the day that a doctor and a nurse told us that we were embarking on a journey of pain, uncertainty, and discomfort. This is day 1 of a fight for life.
Two weeks ago, Robin came home and told me about her amazing trip to the GREAT BANQUET in Kentucky with Paula and Vivian. She told me about meeting God and giving up her fear of failure. She also told me about waking up in the middle of the night and finding a lump in her breast. She told me other things, but honestly, I don’t remember anything after that. Fast forward a week to her doctor’s visit with an OBGYN doctor that had been recommended to her. After the initial exam, he scheduled her for a mammogram Friday morning at 0730. I was at home after taking Caleb to school and she called me at 0945. I asked her how it went and all she could tell me was to clear my schedule for the rest of the day. They had scheduled her immediately for a biopsy of the 3 masses in her chest and the lymph nodes under her arm.
Robin has breast cancer and it has spread into her lymph nodes. They called it Invasive ductal carcinoma to be exact. They tested for Estrogen and Progesterone receptors, but the tests came back negative. I was thinking, “Finally, some GOOD news.” but they then explained that it was not good news. That because she tested negative, they could not use medicine designed to fight that type of cancer. Our immediate and only recourse is surgery to remove the breast and lymph nodes, and chemotherapy to contain the cancer. “Will she lose her hair?” I asked. The doctor replied with a “Yes”. The chemotherapy is designed to kill any rapid growth cells, to include intestinal cells, hair cells, bone cells, and hopefully the cancer cells as well. I decided immediately that when the time comes, Caleb and I will have an appointment at Sports Clips; We will all be bald together!
I KNOW God is in control. I KNOW God is walking with us through this. We got a card from friends with a check in it for $230.00 last month and had no idea what it was for. The couple didn’t either, they just said God told them to give it to us. The trip to Kentucky cost Robin EXACTLY $230.00. God paid for the trip, He woke Robin up in the middle of the night to check herself, He has provided amazing friends to surround us and walk through this with us. Am I still worried? yes. My friend so aptly put it, This is surely the valley of “Suck”.
Tomorrow morning is the appointment with the surgeon and specialist. I feel like Robin is being forced to go on a one way mission into enemy territory and I can’t go with her, I can’t protect her, I can’t be her bodyguard. But I can pray.