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Well today has been mostly a regular Sunday for me -- swam for an hour (yay!), did a little grocery shopping, have been catching up on work, and took a nap. [...]

Some of you have wanted to be able to send me a message that you don't want to post publicly here. There are two ways to do this

The simple way is: click on my name at the bottom of any journal update I make, fill in the message window, and click send. Voila! (Note this works for anyone if you click their name in a comment or post.)[...]

Yesterday's early a.m. MRI was stressful but successful: I only panicked a little (when the contrast injected in my vein made my heart pound so hard it was louder than the machine) but not so much that they had to stop the process. Really, if they hadn't warned me that I should press the panic button if I got chest pain after the contrast, and then told me, okay, now here comes the contrast, I would likely have been totally fine.[...]

Today was full of emotional support, exercise, grocery shopping, and more scheduling of doctors' appointments. Oh, and taxes. It was my first day back in the swimming pool since the biopsies, following the first night I could sleep in my normal position, both of which felt good. Oh, and taxes. It doesn't get much more "normal" than taxes, does it? [...]

The surgeon we requested, Dr. Lee Wilke, who moved here from Duke 5 years ago to set up and run the UW Breast Center, called us today to give us a bunch of information and get me scheduled for a bunch more tests and consultations, since our initial visit with her isn't until next Tuesday. She was awesome, as everyone who recommended her said she would be, and we got a lot more information. It was encouraging in that it sounds like I will likely still have the (difficult) choice to make between 2 lumpectomies w/radiation, or 1 or 2 mastectomies; a lot of the treatment plan will depend on the test results still to come, including whether I'm given 4-5 months of drug/hormone therapy first before surgery. They are working on scheduling a lot of appointments; we will be meeting back to back with Dr. Wilke and Dr. Ruth O'Regan, "an international leader in breast-cancer care and science" who was just recruited from Emory, on Tuesday afternoon; we will have an appointment with a genetic counselor on Monday and hopefully also an MRI exam before the Tuesday meetings; and an appointment with a plastic surgeon a couple of days after that, in case I end up opting for mastectomy so I understand the reconstruction options. [...]

Dear ones,

Thank you so much for the tremendous outpouring of love, support, and wisdom. I am laughing and crying as I read all of the posts and emails. The continuous flow of emails this morning is reminding me not to try too hard to get anything else done but process this new reality. (A request -- Going forward, it will help me be able to occasionally focus on one or two other things, to have most of the communications about my health be on this site). [...]

First the facts:

Our journey began on Monday Feb 23rd, when Becca found a lump in her right breast.[...]