Here is the timeline:
I had an annual Mammogram on April 26.
I have never missed a year and have always been clear. 2 days later they called me back and told me
to go downtown SLC to the big IHC hospital for anther Mammogram. I did that on May 4th.
While I was there they also did an Ultrasound (right side
only) and then a Radiologist came in and deadened me on the right and took
several biopsies (not fun), another Mammogram, packed me in ice and I came home,
bruised and sore, but otherwise fine
Friday, May 6, he (the Radiologist) called me to tell me ALL
the biopsies were positive. He had already made appointments for me - moving forward.
Wednesday morning, May 11th, I had a breast MRI done at the big IHC hospital
downtown SLC.
At that point I had been told I had the most common breast
cancer (ductal carcinoma), caught very early (wasn’t there last year.) And that it was NOT in my lymph nodes – and on
the right side only. I was still pretty
sore and bruised from the biopsy, but otherwise feeling fine.
This morning May 17th, Bryan and I met with a
surgeon, Dr. Chung, at Riverton Hospital.
She had all the results of the ultrasound, biopsies and MRI. Her story was much different. I was SO glad Bryan was with me ! She said the tumor is large and in 2
sections, and they mow they think they are seeing something on the left. She wants more tests – more ultrasound and possibly
more biopsies. She has contacted another
female Oncologist who’s office is at Jordan Valley Hospital, very close to here
on 90th. I will hear from them in a couple
of days to make appointments. She is
also putting in orders for more testing.
She talked about a lot of things I never heard of before,
she drew a lot of pictures. In the long
run I think this is what I heard – It large, it is growing rapidly and is very
aggressive - She talked about chemo and
maybe then back to her for surgery ? The
Oncologist will help make those decisions. We asked her if it was curable, she
said she had just seen a patient this morning (just before me) that had been cured – what she
couldn’t say was that is was ONE patient she had seen that was cured - - -
And so now I wait for phone calls from Radiology and
Oncology. I was pretty light hearted
about what I had been told originally – feeling pretty confident and brave
- now I am not…… It’s going to be a long
rough road – I have no idea what lies ahead – a new experience for me. I have not been sick in my life, but now I am
going to be……. And to my dismay – it is
going to affect the lives of all my family and friends that I love. And for that I am deeply sorry !!
More news to follow as treatment progresses. I think we will start a BLOG. That way information will be fresh, accurate, and recent. I may have trouble with phone calls, although I LOVE hearing from you all ! Right now it is hard to talk about – hope you understand ! XOXOX
May 18. 2022
June 6, 2022
I met Dr. Richard Frame at 3:00 this afternoon. Bryan was with me. The doctor was super nice and told it like it is - and it's NOT GOOD.
My breast cancer is SUPER AGGRESSIVE ! He wants me to have a double mastectomy ASAP - followed by some pretty severe Chemo - so my next 3 months are going to be pretty miserable I think. He explained that the amount of Chemo he would have to do before surgery would be so severe that it would 'hurt me'. and still not have much effect on the tumor - in the meantime it would be growing !!! He recommended both breasts be removed and then a cleansing Chemo to follow. Both Bryan and I agree - there is really no other choice. So that is our plan of action.
Dr. Frame, the Oncologist, called Dr. Chung, the surgeon, at Riverton Hospital. She was in surgery, but he left her a very direct message of his recommendations. I will call her in the morning to make a surgery appointment.
I will do my best to make the best of all of this, but my life is going to change dramatically. I think they can get me some time (years) to enjoy life and I will do that !!! but in the end - this is not going to end well.
I am so sorry to have to tell you this. I still can't quite wrap my head around it - but I feel pretty healthy today. I just spent another 4 hours in my yard this morning. I want to have some quality of life left, although I will be under constant follow-up for the rest of my life. But I will plan to live life to the fullest as long as I can - I hope that conversations can be positive and not consumed by reports of cancer. We will plan to be happy as often as possible, enjoy each other's company, make memories together and look forward with a positive attitude. OK?
I love you all SO much. Together we can do this - One day at a time - One day at a time !!
XOXOXO
Have not I commanded thee?
Be strong and be of good courage:
Be not afraid; neither be thou discouraged:
Joshua 1:9
Date is set for Wednesday June 29. Seems like a long way out, but she wants MORE MRIs, MORE biopsies,,.,,,,,, I just have to do whatever they decide is best,,,, so i have a few more weeks to be human ! Ha !
June 14, 2022
Well, let's see - where to start. I had another scan on June 3. ( Positron Emission Tomography–computed tomography (better known as PET-CT or PET/CT) is a nuclear medicine technique which combines, in a single gantry, a positron emission tomography (PET) scanner and an x-ray computed tomography (CT) scanner, to acquire sequential images from both devices in the same session, which are combined into a single superposed (co-registered) image. Thus, functional imaging obtained by PET, which depicts the spatial distribution of metabolic or biochemical activity in the body can be more precisely aligned or correlated with anatomic imaging obtained by CT scanning. Two- and three-dimensional image reconstruction may be rendered as a function of a common software and control system. Good news is that the results from that scan showed NOT FURTHER CANCER in any other places in my body, so it is contained only in my breasts ! That was such a relief. Dr. Frame said he found 2 other spots in my neck, very small, something different and he is not goin to address that at this time - just 'watch' them. Bad news was unexpected - the lemonade drink they gave me as a prep before injecting the radioactive dye gave me a bowl cleanout similar to a colonoscopy prep. I had to stop 3 times to find a bathroom between the hospital and home ! Whew !
On June 8 my sweet beautician friend, Wendy Pilcher took me wig shopping and we found a really nice one that looks almost identical to my hair. Took us only a half an hour and we were home ! Woohoo !!
On June 10 (Friday) I felt well enough to work my 5 hours schedule in the Jordan River Temple office. I did enjoy that very much. I will be able to work 2 more Fridays and then will be on leave of absence.
On June 11 I forced myself to have a yard sale with the neighborhood and made $200 ! OK!! It was too much work, a hot day but I cleared out some unused things and that was good
So - to bring us up to date - yesterday ( June 13) it was back downtown to the big IHC hospital for yet another MRI that included more biopsies of the left breast, where the PET scan showed more spots. The position required to get in that machine is almost more than I can stand - and to top it off, while on your face with bobs hanging in holes they go in through the side with a biopsy rod to grab tissue from the newly located spots. I had protested this procedure, seeing as how they are going to remove both breasts anyway, but my surgeon, Dr, Chung, said she wants tissue samples BEFORE surgery and she would not budge - so - OK ! After 3 hours I left the hospital full of holes they glued closed with super glue and my bust was tightly bound up with a 3" Ace Bandage, and today - I am sore ! BUT, I feel pretty good. "No lifting, pushing or pulling, don't put your arms above your head" Hummm. Guess I will go to my new friend's house and play table games with her ! 2 more agonizing weeks to wait for my surgery date ! Gotta keep busy !!
Sunday (June 19) the Bishop invited me to speak in church on Diligence ! Evidently he thinks I have some ! Ha ! So I guess I am writing a talk this week. Groan !
6/29/22 Surgery Day
Wonderful neighborhood fireworks 2 doors down from my house last night, surrounded by
friends and family !
Jeri got up early and was safely home by 1:00. She could see that I am well enough to take care
of myself. She was packed and out the door by 8:00. I loved having her here with me !
I piddled around the house a little and sat down to catch up my journal. Andrea and I had planned
going and seeing the new Elvis movie, but Angela called and said she and Ethan and Gracie
wanted to come over and go to lunch – and so they came, we had a nice visit and then we all went
to Schmidt’s Pastry for a lovely delicious lunch !
We returned home and they were just leaving when my new wonderful friend, Elizabeth Burton
called and asked if she and Sherry could bring some table games and come over. I was delighted.
We played a couple of card games when Mary and Bryan stopped by. So we stopped playing to visit
with them and we had the most lovely visit !
Elizabeth and Sherry went home and Mary and Bryan sat me down for a visit. Yes, I am doing fine,
but Mary does not feel comfortable not being here with me. I convinced her ( I hope) that she could
do what she felt she ‘needed’ to do to feel good about my care. She will come every day, and we will see how that works out.
I sat down to watch TV and Dave and Jill Hooley stopped by for a WONDERFUL visit !
It’s been a busy day – I will try to rest more tomorrow. Thursday is my doctor apt and Bryan
will go with me.
This evening I am feeling very humble. My spiritual and social and medical needs are being met
at the highest possible degree !! I feel blessed beyond explanation ! I feel I had a very good
surgeon and I am amazed at how I am doing after such radical surgery ! I am asked if I am in
pain – I have pain – I feel like a big truck has run over me – but am NOT IN pain ! If that makes
since. My underarms are terribly sore and bruising now. My sternum is very tender and the flesh under my collar bones is very sore – but I am NOT IN PAIN! I can cough or sneeze and it does not hurt my chest. I can push myself up out of bed and off the toilet
and pull my own pants up. I know I have Chemo ahead – but if I have this kind of support –
perhaps it will not be as bad as I am fearing – and if it is not – perhaps I can endure it with all the love that buoys me up !
How can I express to my Heavenly Father how grateful I am - - -
How can I ever thank you ALL for your prayers !
Wed July 20 Port placement
Bryan and I were at the IHC hospital by 7:30 and they started my procedure right on time. It went in like clockwork ! We were home by noon and I feel absolutely normal (my chest looks a little beat up, but no pain !! My son Randy, who is here from CA, will stay until next Tue. I will enjoy his company !!
Tomorrow lunch with friends at Chuck-a-Rama ! Trying to find a balance Life CANNOT be only about cancer - there is still life to live !! Next week - Chemo
July 23 - Friday - my last day to work as a Service Missionary in the JR Temple office for a while ! Sad !
Love to you ALL ! And so many thanks for ALL your prayers ! Keep it up ! It's working !
Thursday July 28 Started Chemo once every 2 weeks
for 8 rounds So – here we go !!!
This green shirt will be my Chemo shirt, as the neckline is low enough to expose my port -
I
had a good night !
Yea !!! Woke around 6:30, laid in
bed for half an hour, had a shower and got ready to go. Kelly and I left here around 8:30 and were at
the doctor’s office by 9:00. We had to
wait on him for a while, but he is worth the wait. He seems SO glad to see me, to see how well I
am. He seems SO sincere ! Kelly was amazed at his bedside manner ! He comes in and give you the elbow bump
(Covid protection) but by the time you leave he is hugging you !! He believes I am going to survive - and I believe it also ! Four rounds of 1 1/2 hr drips THEN 4 rounds of 4 1/2 hour drips !!
My Chemo technician was Darrin and he
was also SO pleasant, informing us of EVERYTHING as he went along. The chair was comfortable, we were
comfortable and the time went quickly. I
am not sick - yet - he said give it 2-3 days before I feel the effects. He injected a HUGE vile of RED stuff he
called The Red Devil !! That is the
cancer killing chemo !!! So - now I am
FULL OF THE DEVIL !!! And that's my
excuse !! And I'm sticking to it !! Ha !
We stopped by Costco. I let Kelly drive, as I am feeling a little different. They pumped me so full of liquid again – my bladder is bursting !
A big round of applause to Janet Ballard and Connie Mayer for bringing in a lovely dinner. It was a crazy day and the meal was much appreciated.
Aug 7, 2022 JOURNAL UPDATE
Well - looks like it is far beyond time to catch up the Blog !! Sorry - Where to start......
So it appears this will be my routine - Chemo every other Thursday - First was on one July 28
My kids are on vacation in Costa Rico and my caregiver is my (like adopted) daughter, Kelly Campbell. She and her husband are stationed in Germany, but she is here to put her youngest in college, have a visit AND take care of me !!! My dear Kelly - had no idea what would lie ahead
Day 1 - -I felt a little off, but I am up and around, watched some good movies today ! Kelly and I talked all day until our throats hurt ! Ha ! She is taking such good care of me !!
Day 2 - I feel a little tired and a little off. Work at controlling vomiting, constipation, and mainly - a headache like I have never experienced.
Day 3 - Woke up after a long sleepless night - unable to move any body parts ! My whole core was on fire! Bad day There is a WAR going on inside of me !! I have THRUSH ! Yuk !
Day 4 - Sunday - I feel terrible, pounding headache, I can barely even talk ! I have not used the bathroom or eaten for 3 days !! Last night I could not breath! Felt like there was an anvil on my chest. Sat in my rocker gasping for air like a fish on the bank for 2 hours - exhausted ! And then it occurred to me, "Just go back to bed and try to go to sleep- and die in your sleep - it's what everyone hopes to do and it will all be OK." Sounded so logical, so I did - and I did go to sleep sometime around 3:00 am.
Day 5 - Monday - I heard a voice - "Mom?" I woke up with a start ! I was so shocked ! I was still ALIVE!! OK ! OK !
Day 6 - Kelly went back to Orem to visit her kids. Mary, my most wonderful darling daughter- in-law, moved in a while. She will work from my office. I am a little better EVERY day until by the second week I was feeling like myself. I even managed an hour of yard work one morning, I can do laundry, a little housework, drive myself where I want to go and I sent my daughter-in-law home ! I can care for myself now ! I am almost normal! I even got dressed today ! Wohoo !
Day 7 - one week out - my darling friend, Elizabeth Burton, came over and we played a table game and had a wonderful visit !
Day 10 - Saturday - I was able to enjoy my granddaughter's baby shower - I can eat and I am sleeping pretty good !
Day 11 - Sunday - Enjoyed a very emotional day at Chruch, had dinner with my son and family and learned of a NEW BABY (my 3rd great grandchild) will arrive mid March. Life is good!
Day 12 - Monday - planning out my week.
Day 13 - Wednesday - hair will come off. Thank you Wendy Pilcher! I want this to be MY discission - NOT the Chome's (doctor had promised me round 2 would take my hair)
Day 14 - Thursday - Chemo Treatment (round 2) followed by a long MRI & CT scan.
AND so it seems this will go - at least for the first 8 weeks. I THINK I CAN DO THIS - I did not say I was looking forward to it - but it is tolerable, I think I can do it again !
**** I wanted this Blog to MORE than just medical updates ! I would like it to informative, educational, spiritually uplifting, and even from time to time, a little humorous ! And so here is a journal entry of tiny miracle that happened to me on and around July 14:
I went to Smith’s to pick up the salve that I will use to numb the area around my port before treatments – and I also had a doctor requeste to get my 3rd Covid booster. The pharmacist at Smith's was a bit stern with me, asking me if I had made an appointment. I have never had to have an appointment before today, that meant returning home and back again to the store. I was not happy. I didn't feel good and I got grumpy ! So I paid for my salve and left to come home and get online. Only to find out that Smiths was not even named as having any of the 3rd booster, but Walgreen (across the street from Smith’s WAS a provider) so I made an appointment with Walgreen.
I went there at 2:20 and had to stand in line and wait my turn and then wait while a pretty young woman looked me up on her computer and created an account for me. I felt rather weak, so I went to sit down. In time she came out with the shot prepared and escorted me around the corner to a little private room where they did injections. She started a conversation with me – and in the end I learned that she had had exactly the same cancer as I had, and she recited off her treatment plan word for word as what Dr. Frame had told me !! I KNEW she knew exactly what I had ahead of me ! I asked her if she got sick and she said no, but she was (she had a hard time finding the word) exhausted to the point that she could not talk! This was 10 years ago and she had small children and her mother took care of her. She was so sweet and encouraging to me – she was lovely and healthy and I could see that I may be also again someday…. She gave me my shot and I came home with an entirely different feeling inside !! Now I felt humble, no long grumpy ! Later ---it occurred to me that I was sorry for my impatient and I can clearly see that the Lord had His hand in this – Walgreen’s was where I was supposed to go so I could meet her. Thank you, Lord.
A few days later I left a thank you note at Walgreen's drive through window - asking them to please deliver it to the sweet young woman who had given me such courage and hope. I had no way of knowing her name, so I trusted them to deliver it for me.
A few days after that I received an astonishing email form my friends, Bob and Cindy Jackson, from Baxter, TN!. We had served a mission on Temple Square together in 2005-2006 and traveled together many times for years afterwards. The email read:
Cindy tells me that it's a small world. She received a copy of a 'note' that was given to our daughter, Lee Briggs. She is a Pharmacy Tech at Walgreen's South Jordan. We couldn't believe that the beautiful note was signed "Bunny Haycock"!
So - Coincidence: I think NOT !!! I felt the Lord's hand in this experience! The road I am now called to travel (although I have so much love and support from family, neighbors and loved ones) feels like a very difficult and lonely road, a road only I must walk alone) A trial in MY life I must win or lose alone. But now I realize something that I already know, but too quickly forget - He had promised me that He will ALWAYS with me !!! I feel so strongly that He IS aware of what I am going through, and in His small way He puts people in 'my way' to bless me! Now MY challenge is to try to remain worthy of those blessings and always REMEMBER from wens they came ! In the name of Jesus Christ -- Amen
Aug 23, 2022
Psalm 139:17-18
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you
September 16, 2022
Well, I am finding it hard to keep up this Blog than I thought. My last treatment was the LAST of the RED DEVIL - !! "I said, "Get the hence, Satan!"
So ALL IS WELL HERE ! Thank you ALL so much for your love and your prayers. Looks like I am supposed to survive this - to live a while longer on this wonderful earth - to experience more trials and/or more blessings - more time with family and freinds. 4 more treatments over the next 8 weeks and it will be over for now !
Blessings continue to buoy me up - Sunday is my grandson's Joseph's missionary Farewell talk in church. They live in the Copper Creek Ward in Herriman, so I can easily attend. Mary is planning a luncheon for family and friends afterwards. He will do 2 weeks of Home MTC (classes are done on line) and then he will fly off to Mexico City for the 4 weeks after that to Study his Spanish I That is a treatment week for me, so my niece who lives in Logan is coming to tend me while Mary and Bryan take care of Joe's needs - then he will go back to Oakland, CA to begin his mission. Their nest is getting pretty empty.
I AM HALF WAY ! 4 more treatments over the next 8 weeks and it will be over for now. They are preparing me for a double whammy! A new drug (and lots of it) called Toxil (root work - TOXIC) The assure me the first treatment will be brutal - numb hands and feet, bone pain, and extreme fatigue - but NOT nausea ! So - Here I go again ! My old body has been pretty resilient and my numbers (kidney, liver, white blood count, etc.) have all be NORMAL !! My kids are VERY pleased !!
On my good weeks I have enjoyed another trip to the Hale Theater to see The Unsinkable Molly Brown. Barry and I spend out first 2 winters of in Leadville, Molly's hometown, so we know all about her ! Great show ! And I also was able to go to Swiss Days with my girls. I just ate some scone for breakfast and then sat and enjoyed the live entertainments while the girls shopped and deposited the purchases under my chair ! Ha! The drive to Midway is SO beautiful ! I loved every minute of it !
And so - I probably won't be posting for a while if my hands go numbs. Feel free to stop by - hopefully I will be awake ! Ha !
My love to you ALL !!! Bunny
Sept 24, 2022
