I just wasted close to $200- part 1

So, it is Friday evening and my appointment was on Tuesday. I have been trying to get to writing this. I am not going to proofread it, I wrote most of it yesterday - Tuesday evening when we got home, we had dinner and spent time with the girls. Wednesday consisted of taking A to an eye exam and picking out glasses. Then Joanne came over to chat and that was really a necessary day - she gave me pointers, we talked and talked, laughed and maybe even cried a little. Yesterday, I watched the neighbor's 4 girls - the youngest 2 ages 3 and 1. It ended up being a long time as I offered to also watch them so they could go on a date. The girls all had a great time playing outside and downstairs. I tried to write while they were here, and this is what I came up with..... I may proofread and make sure I didn't leave a half-finished sentence at least!
I wondered about this post - how to write it, how to get across what I am actually feeling. One thing about me is that I usually see something funny in almost everything. One time, when hit with something particularly not good in my life at that point, I (sarcastically) said something humorous - it just happened to be the first thing that popped into my mind.
Well, on the way home from the doctor's appointment Tuesday, I told Jeff, "I guess I just wasted almost $200". Last week I was in Snoqualmie and North Bend has an outlet mall. I have been needing to do this for at least 2 years, but I finally had the time and resources to go replace my bras. I purchased 3 because they cost less than 2 with the sale they were having. (Anyone want to save 50% on a bra - my mom has a coupon that is good the whole month of August, I was going to have her get a 4th one for me, but won't be needing it.....) AND Tuesday morning, because that was the earliest I could get in and have been needing to do so for 3 weeks, I got my hair done.

Now, before I get ahead of myself, Jeff and I still have some decisions to make. Also, there is more information to be gathered before we make those decisions. The first order of business is for me to get an MRI. That is going to show if and how far the cancer is beyond the two tumors they biopsied. But the surgeon pretty much came prepared to let us know that the best type of treatment is going to include chemotherapy, and surgery will be determined after an MRI whether lumpectomy or mastectomy will be best. - This will be a long post, so hang in there!

Well, now I am getting ahead of myself. The first thing that is really interesting to me and that is a HUGE blessing is the way these tumors were found in the first place. As I said in my first post, I felt a lump like a dried pea under the skin about an inch from my sternum. When I went in for the mammogram they put a marker on top of the lump (yes, the technician felt it too) to have it show up in the x-rays. (a triangle shape means I found it, a circle would mean it was found on a previous x-ray and a square means a doctor found it; just fyi). Anyway, the comparison to my mammo from 18 months ago showed absolutely no difference, and the marker wasn't marking anything unusual - nothing to be cause for concern. There was that other what I referred to as scar tissue-like from the infection, but on any comparisons and checking out of all the angles of the x-rays and even the ultrasounds from that same day and in February, nothing sent up any red-flags. I don't remember what she said about how they found something to biopsy - maybe all the types of material in there was the same in the two different times, and they looked at it harder to determine that they were indeed lumps because I told them I felt something. Anyway, if I had gone in for just a regular screening, they would have sent me on my merry way with a clean bill of health. Side note: that 'lump' was not what they biopsied, and I don't really feel it anymore.

Then there is the pathology report. It came with different addendum. The first, said that one was invasive the other infiltrating; ductal carcinoma and they were both in situ (An early stage cancer in which the cancerous growth or tumor is still confined to the site from which it started, and has not spread to surrounding tissue or other organs in the body. When cancer in situ involves cells that line the internal organs, or epithelial cells, it is called carcinoma in situ.). Later, an addendum showed that they are estrogen and progesterone positive meaning that hormones essentially encourage the growth of the cancer. That is all I learned before going into my appointment. Then Dr. Moline said that another test came back and showed that it is also HER2-neu positive. This is not a good thing. From what I understand, this means that they are more aggressive and don't respond to hormone treatment. There are also a lot of calcium deposits throughout the tissue. The two tumors are more than likely a primary tumor with a satellite tumor which means it is the same kind. They need to determine if there are more satellites elsewhere. The ducts are like little subway tunnels and little tumors may be hiding in there and travelling to other places to pop up when they decide to. An MRI is done to see if there are extra satellites elsewhere.
OK, so I just proofread it, even though I said I wasn't going to (not bad for starting and stopping while watching 4 extra girls for 4 hours!)
The reason I am splitting this up between two posts is because this morning, there was a knock at our door at 7 am and I opened the door to Carter and Maggie standing there - they having driven all night to spend a long weekend with us instead of backpacking somewhere in the Uintahs.  Well, because of that, my mom and dad decided to join us also, and they showed up later this evening after we spent the late afternoon at the temple. I am teaching the RS lesson on Sunday and A's birthday party is tomorrow morning. (life does go on....) I really wish I could sit down and write this all out and get all of my thoughts and understandings of the appointment down on 'paper', but that will have to wait! I have other things vying for my time the next 3 days! 
OH, my dad sent out an email asking family and friends to join us all on Sunday for a special fast on my behalf. I really appreciate that and know I will feel the power of combined prayers and the extra layer of a fast to go along with it!