It's Wednesday!

Hi Everyone,
It's been kind of a crappy day, but I'll try and not be too negative. I've tried to talk to my bosses at work and get an answer as far as what they expect from me in hours once my chemo starts. Their answer - "we'll cross that bridge when we come to it!" Well, that's not good enough for me. I realize that the chemo may not affect me at all, but the chances of that are slim to non. I think that I'll end of going "prn" so if I work 5 hours a week that's fine and if I work 32, that's fine. I'm switching to Sam's insurance, because I'd have to work 32 hours a week every week to keep mine, and I can't count on that. His insurance is better anyway. It also has no waiting period, no pre-existing, etc., etc., etc. Just a very frustrating day for both Sam and I. He hates being so far away and I hate being here alone dealing with everything.

We're looking forward to Friday when we see the Oncologist - at least we'll have a game plan. Then, Team Bentson and Stacy will be here for the week-end, so that will be even better!! Can't wait to see them all!

The Race for the Cure is the 10th, and I signed Sam, Stacy and I up - there are about 20 doing the race for work in my honor, so that's an awesome feeling!!

O.K. I'm done complaining......Better days are ahead, I know there are......

Talk soon.

Love,
me

Happy Memorial Day!

Hey Everyone!
I hope that everyone is having a good holiday week-end. We left Friday afternoon after the Dr's appointment and went to Elgin to spend some time with Sam's mom. Stacy came down Saturday a.m. and we all had lunch together, took flowers to the Elgin and Wadena cemeteries, then we headed home. Stacy spent the afternoon with grandma, had TJ's pizza (I'm pretty sure that wasn't on her diet) then she headed home. Sam's mom is terribly forgetful and won't remember that we were there, but she had a good time while we were all together.

I had back to work tomorrow. It will be good to get back to work - good reason to get up, but I'll miss my afternoon naps!! Everyone from work has been great, so it will be good to be back with them again. We go to the oncologist on Friday, so we'll find out then when everything starts. Like one friend said, "this will just be a year out of my life, so let's get it started so it can be over with!"....Amen to that!!

Bought more flowers today, so will be digging in the dirt later - hope it cools off a bit - it's mid 90's right now!!

Have a good Holiday!

Love,
me

Happy Friday!

We just got home from the Dr. - didn't learn much that we didn't already know. Yes, it's cancer, yes, the incisions look good, yes, I'll probably have 4 - 6 months of chemo (depending on what the oncologist says next Friday), and yes then I'll have radiation after that. But, he agreed with the surgeon - we caught it early enough and I'm young (?!) enough, all signs are good, so WE WILL BEAT THIS!!

I got my hair cut this a.m. - short. Sam was afraid that I would come home with a haircut like his, but it's not THAT short. Just want to be prepared! It feels so much better. Then we met Lisa (from my work) for lunch. Everyone has been so supportive - it's just hard to take it all in.....

Now, we're almost ready to leave for Elgin - just a quick trip, but we'll get to spend some time with Sam's mom and take flowers to the cemetaries. It will be good to get away too.....

So, everyone have a good week-end....Steph - hope that sweet Jaden is doing o.k., and hope that you and Sal are able to get some unpacking done and have some much needed "down" time.

Bye for now.

Love,
Karen

We went and saw the surgeon this a.m. He was full of all kinds of tidbits - some not so good, some we already knew. The tumor was only 25% DCIS, where they had originally thought that it was mostly DCIS with a bit of cancer in the middle. Guess I fooled them. The estrogen reseptors that are in women's breast cells do not connect or hold estrogen treatment, so the tomoxifin therapy isn't an option either. So, we meet with the radiation oncologist tomorrow and the oncologist on June 2nd. He will be the one to decide the treatment regiman and to decide when the port will be put in. That will be put in my chest wall, and will save me from having to get poked each chemo treatment or each time they want blood. It won't be a fun summer, but we're going to beat this!!

After the Dr. appointment, we went to JoAnna's funeral. That was tougher than I thought it would be. Beautiful service with a lot of personalizations. Her publishers from Putnam in NYC were there as well as Reps. from the American Cancer Society. I made some connections there, and will be getting lots of feedback, free wigs, make-up sessions, transportation to/from treatments, etc.

We're going to try and go to Elgin tomorrow after the Dr. appointment and will come back Saturday afternoon. We haven't been up there for quite a while, so it would be good to get away for a day.

Thanks again for all of your prayers & support - the pink braids will show up one of these days - I'll surprise you!!

Love,
me

Hi All,
Hope that everyone had a good Tuesday! I didn't sleep very good last night, so went and got my nails done this morning then got a massage. Felt wonderful! Took a small nap, but I just don't feel good today. Maybe JoAnna's death is affecting me more than I thought.

I was outside and watered plants and enjoyed the sunshine - what a beautiful day! Holly, a neighbor and co-worker, has been so good about brining dinner up every night - tonight it's barbequed chicken, baked potato, and a veggie. She's spoiling me!!

Sam will be home Wed. night (woo-hoo) and we'll go to JoAnna's funeral on Thursday, after my Dr. appointment. Friday afternoon we meet with the Radiation Oncologist, so should know a game plan for chemo. We'll be glad to know something more definite.

Have a good evening!!

Love,
me

Happy Monday!

Good Morning!
Hope that everyone had a good week-end. Ours was good, Stacy was here, met friends from my work for lunch on Friday, went out to eat with friends (Roger & Cyndie) from Adel on Saturday, and I planted some Climatis vines on Sunday. Probably over did, because I'm pretty sore today, but it was nice to get out in the sunshine.

We had good and bad new yesterday. Good news - friends had a healthy baby boy - Tyler Robert - 8 lb 3 oz...They lost a baby boy last year, so lots of prayers went their way with this pregnancy. Mom and baby are doing fine....Bad news - good friend, JoAnna Lund, passed away from breast cancer.

Christy & Shaun were supposed to come this next week-end for several weeks, but we decided that it would be best if they didn't. We don't know when the chemo will start, when they'll put the port in, etc., so unfortunately, we won't get to see them this summer. We were looking so forward to it and us as well as Krista & Stacy had made a lot of plans for them, but we all know that things don't always work out the way we plan them.

Thank you so much to all of you for your support, your prayers, phone calls, flowers, additions to my blog, emails, etc. It means so much to Sam and I to know that we have such a strong support group out there. We don't know what lies ahead, but we do know that there are a lot of friends and family that care.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Love,
Karen

From The Other Half

Just wanted to thank all of you out there for all off the support you have given Karen and me.
A big thanks to you who have stopped by to help Karen with hard times when i am at work.

THANK YOU ALL

SAM

Hi all.

Just got home from having lunch with some co-workers at Applebee's. So good to see all of them to to have their love & support. Sam got home late yesterday afternoon - we're both glad that he's here.

Now, I'm going to bed - I'm so tired! Don't know why - I haven't done anything, but I guess my body needs to heal. I don't know when they'll start the chemo - probably not for several weeks yet. I'll probably take Family Medical Leave from work, that way I won't have to worry about feeling good enough to get up and go, if that makes sense. One day at a time - that's the best any of us can do!

Stacy is coming tomorrow - it will be good to have her here. I wish that we weren't so far from everyone. Talk to you later - I'm going to bed.

Love,
me

Cancer

Cancer is so Limited...
It cannot cripple Love.
It cannot shatter Hope.
It cannot corrode Faith.
It cannot destroy Peace.
It cannot kill Friendship.
It cannot suppress Memories.
It cannot silence Courage.
It cannot invade the Soul.
It cannot steal eternal Life.
It cannot conquer the Spirit.

I found this and thought it was so great. We love you Mom.
Krista, Ken, and kids

I did It !

You asked , what did I do ?

I was so proud of myself , I was able to get our photo on the Blogg. Da! DA !


Silly, huh?


Love you,

Sis

Keep on thinking "Positive"

Hi Karen and Sam! We have to feel that the doctor's decision is for your protection...as a reinforcement of what has already been done. Thinking positive is an excellent approach, and quite abit easier to do since we know the lymph nodes weren't involved. We will continue to pray and will pray specifcally that the chemo will take care of anything that is possibly lingering. Thank goodness for your mamogram and early detection. You have much to be thankful for, so keep your chin up!! God loves you and we do too!! :-) We don't have to remind you how loving and supportive your special family is! Thanks for the updates.
Love, Uncle Larry and Aunt Carolyn

I talked to the Dr. this a.m., and it wasn't good news. The tumor was bigger than they expected. While the margins around the tumor were clear and the lymph nodes were clear, he said that it is a high grade/rapid growing cancer. So, I will be doing chemo first - after I heal from this first surgery. I'll have to have a second surgery to have a port put in, but hopefully that will be relatively minor. The tumor itself was 1.8 x 1.4 x 1 (cm) which doesn't seem that big, but they have no way of knowing if it got into my blood stream - hence the chemo.

So, keep the prayers coming - it's not the news we were prepared for.

Love,
Karen


p.s. - Kelly B - you dumb girl - you made my day yesterday with your "care package"! Thank you so much - how thoughtful!!!

Good Morning...

I drove today!! First time since surgery.....Sam went back to work and the Maggie had to go to the Beauty Shop, so I took her. It isn't far, thank goodness, so I'm safely back home and going back to bed...

Happy Anniversary, Krista & Ken!! I remember the first time that we met Ken, and we thought "Are you nuts?"!!!! But, you 2 are a perfect match - both a little nuts at times - we love you both, and hope that you have many more years together!

Off to bed - it's almost 8:30, must be nap time! Bye for now.

Love,
me

Hi Again!
I'm disappointed in my brother - that he's not excited about Abbie!! That's a big deal!! We're also very excited that you could go too, assuming that everything came out o.k.!!!

Anyway, we went to the Surgeon today so he could look at my armpit, or rather the lump in it. He doesn't feel that it's infection - he feels that it's the lymphatic fluid backing up and settling there, waiting for my body to absorb it. He gave me 2 choices - wait for my old body to absorb it, which could take a few weeks, or let him take a syring and he could draw it out. I opted for the first choice - I'm waiting. I've quite enough needles for a while. It isn't too painful, just feels like I have an orange in my armpit. Both of my incisions look good, with no sign of infection, so that's even better.

We went out for lunch and then to Wal*Mart for a few things, and by then, I was exhausted, so I came home and took a nap. Poor Sam, he's gimping around because he pushed me around in a wheelchair - thought a motorized one would have been better!!

This a.m., the phone rang about 8:45 and it was some co-workers - they had me on speaker phone and were just wondering how I was. That made my day! Then, when we got home this afternoon, there were some beautiful flowers waiting on the front porch - thank you so much, Steph, Sal, Robyn & Bill - they're beautiful! We love you all!!

Thank you everyone for your love, your support and your thoughtfulness. This journey has just begun for us, but with everyone's support, it will make it much easier for both Sam & I.

Love,
Karen & Sam

Good Morning Everyone!
We're off to see the surgeon this a.m. - I have an infection or something going on, so he wants to see me. I'm so glad that Sam is here, because I wouldn't be able to drive, even though it's only a couple of blocks.....This a.m. some of my co-workers called and put me on speaker phone - so good to hear from them. They said that I'd never be alone - they were all only a phone call away. Last night Holly, a neighbor and co-worker brought up home made mexican for dinner. mmmm good. Tonight, Kellie, another co-worker is bringing something, so I'm well taken care of!

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers - it means so much. I'll keep you posted!

Love,
Karen