Note from Bill regarding Joyce

As some of you know, Mom tested anemic and had a blood transfusion on Sept. 25th and has slowly recovered from a month or two of total exhaustion and basically feeling like crap. She is really unbelievable considering she felt that bad, and she still endured a week of six different doctor appointments, some of the days running 8 hrs straight and more tests than you could imagine.

Mom had biopsies on September 30th on one area of the scalp and one lesion under each arm. We met with Dr. Schiller, her oncologist, on Monday to receive the results. All three areas were positive for breast cancer, which was not unexpected since the dermatologist suspected they would come back as such. Apparently in about 25% of breast cancer patients the lesions Mom has can appear on the outside of the skin. These areas include under the arms, the chest area, and the pelvis and, more rarely, on the scalp.

Now we are waiting to see if these areas come back as hormone positive, which is what her previous breast cancer has been. If it does come back hormone positive, she will switch from her current cancer-fighting drug, “Tomoxafin,” to a stronger drug in the same class; if it does not come back positive, she will, once again, undergo chemo. Please everyone say a prayer that it’s hormone positive.

Yesterday they took x-rays of her lower back to find out what is causing the pain she has in this area and her thighs. Today a complete bone scan is being performed to check for any other spread of the cancer.

We will be meeting Dr. Schiller on Monday the 13th to review the scans and, if the results are back by then, find out what the biopsies showed.