 |
| My latest club -- the one no one wants to join! |
We'll Begin at the Beginning
I started this blog as a way to keep our far flung network of friends and family up to date on my progress as I receive treatment for breast cancer. Originally, we sent email updates, a series of 14 of them covering August 2010 until February 2011. Then I realized putting all the updates into a blog would allow people to access updates they missed and also honor friend's requests to be added to the list. Plus, I had the added bonus of editing the photos and captions in. So that's how this blog began. I cut and paste all the updates and voila -- you have My Latest "Club."
 |
| The Trifectans and family! |
My story begins in Jackson,Wyoming in July 2010. I felt a welt on my right breast, but nothing was visible on the outside. I mentioned it to Steve and had him feel it. We agreed I should get it checked out next time I went in for a mammogram, which is typically every 6 months. I was going to be in LA for one day, July 12, as part of the Trifecta Celebration -- my Dad's 85th, my Mom's 82nd and Andie's 16th birthday celebration. I don't know exactly what possessed me, but I called up and made an appointment at the Women's Breast Center for that day. With only one day to spend at home and a million things to do I might easily have put off the exam, but thankfully I didn't. A mammogram lead to an ultrasound and that fateful declaration, "Jill, you need to have a biopsy, I will make time for you today at 3:00." Following the biopsy all I could do was return to Wyoming, get Ella ready to go to camp and wait 2 days for the results.
On July 14, I called the Breast Center and received the diagnosis that I had breast cancer. It was a shock to say the least. I had always been so cocky when I checked the NO box on physicals that asked about cancer. There is no cancer in my family. None! I was in the parking lot of Foodtown, with Ella at the Main Event getting movies, when I called Steve in LA. He asked if he could call me right back. I screamed No into the phone and gave him the news. The next step was to call my gynecologist and get some surgeon referrals.
 |
| Our little bit of heaven. |
Our original plan for the Summer was for me to spend 8 weeks in Jackson. Ella would head off to Teton Valley Ranch Camp on July 15 for 4 weeks and I would hang in Jackson visiting her on weekends and Steve and Andie would visit me. Now, the whole goal was to get my ducks in a row on this cancer thing while getting Ella packed up for camp without her knowing what was going on. If we told her, we knew there would be no camp. So I was on my cell phone 24/7 talking to doctors, friends, and friends of friends with breast cancer, making a plan while packing lariats, cowboy boots and other camp paraphenalia for Ella. We agreed Steve would fly in the day after I dropped Ella at camp, help me close up the house, and drive me and Cody (our 95 pound Bernese Mountain dog home).
And that's exactly what we did! All went smoothly.
