The Angel Within Me

My Angel - Invasive Mammary Carcinoma

You may wonder why I would call such a dreadful, life changing, and potentially deadly disease an angel. I believe this was planted by God! My life has a plan and this was included in it. The more you fight the plan that God has drawn out for you, the more struggles you will have. I choose to look at this as something that will lead me into my future and guide me to my path of life. So it will be known as My Angel.

Today I had my first appointment with the oncologist to guide me in what my treatment plan will be and give me an idea of what stage My Angel is in. So here we go! Chemotherapy will be completed prior to surgery in order to reduce the size of the tumor. This will be done in 6 cycles over 6 months while completing hormone therapy as well. Ya see my hormones are feeding My Angel and giving it a little too much life so we need to go ahead and put a stop to that! The clinical diagnosis has been put at a Stage IIIA and this could change dependent upon my CAT, PET, and MUGA scans. These will let us know if it has spread anywhere else in the body. Other than all of the other down sides to chemotherapy, the biggest one for me is the effect it has on fertility. Outside of the other tests that need to be done, my next step is to find and get to a fertility doctor to freeze my eggs. This is key to me having the life I want after this battle is over. I need little Starr children running around annoying me! Fingers crossed I can get into a doctor this week as I cannot start chemotherapy until this process has been completed. I have learned that insurance does not cover fertility preservation, even in cases such as this where it is known that fertility issues are highly likely. This will change! It may not change with me, but guarantee, this will change. If there is anything that I can do in this life, I will make sure that people in the future do not have to worry about how they are going to pay for preservation while they battle for their life. All in all I feel good! I feel ready and prepared to fight. I feel like I have been fueled and I am ready for a battle that I refuse to lose!

Even better news! I close on my home tomorrow! It's an incredible feeling to be able to have done this by myself. At the end of the day I know that I can make my new home my sanctuary. I can come home after chemo and relax in MY OWN HOME! Although I have rented and lived by myself for many years now, nothing beats the feeling of having a home that you can call yours. Tomorrow will be a day to remember.

Thanks for listening!