HAIL TO THE CHEERLEADERS!

So of course I am the early riser, and my theory is "if I'm up, we're all up!".

So in that fashion since it's Saturday morning, and I woke up my father (oops! --- lol), then called Mich to make sure she was on the field as today Jordana had cheerleading. As Michelle tells me each week "You know it, I'm sweating my fanny off".

Mom already called to check in today, and now it's just a day to get out and about.

Well I know we all need some good LAUGHS, so I have pictures of our SMILING CREW!

By the way, for those of you who don't know who the top person is with my husband Shayne, his name is "Davis". Let's just leave it at that ;)

Have a great weekend.

Luv-
B

The Oncologist!

So here i am writing again.....i think i write the way i talk ...which means i will be writing ALOT! Well on Thursday the 28th of September i went to my first vist with my Oncologist. Although when i was going it was just for a consultation but by the time i left i felt really comfortable with her and i liked her (which is important to me cuz if i dont like someone of something it does not make for a very happy michelle) anyway like myselff she is a fellow CANADIAN... YAY!!!! and has a similar personality :)

So the gruesome threesome (mich, jeff and barby) meet up at the oncologists office in delray for a consultation with Dr. Jane Skelton. Upon arrival they make me fill out forms and forms and then tell me to take a seat, but in the meanwhile they scare the bejesus out of me and tell me i will be giving blood.....for those of you who know me i dont fare well with needles and was getting that "hot" feeling but thankfully it never happened! Anyway we didnt wait to to long and then we went into a exam room and waited for the doctor. If you can imagine the 3 of us in there is was quite comical as barby and jeff were doing there thing and i was doing my own thing and all we do is laff....they say laughter is the best medicine and i think they might just be right! So in comes Dr. Skelton and right away its question after question especially about whats coming up and what i should expect and how long and all sorts of interesting things for me to know and most importantly be prepared for. Rather than bore you with details i will save the "juicy" stuff for when it actually happens. Overall it was a very positive experience and i truly believe i am in good hands.

After we left the whole family meet for dinner at cheeburger cheeburger and had dinner as a whole family and then we came home so i could watch greys anatomy (gotta love it!!)

So thats it for now........
mich

The Plastic Surgeon!

Picture this......Florida...September 26th 2006 and 2 of the sloven sisters are trying to find the plastic surgeon for his consultation on boob rebuilding. Well like anything else that goes on it doesnt go normal...we get to the building, read the board and take the elevator to the 2nd floor where we enter suite 204.....well let me tell you we walk in and there are posters of children with the chicken pox and very pretty paintings of kids stuff on the walls. Barby is in front of me and heads over to the check-in window and i am telling her something is definately not right and she is telling me "didnt you read the board" "this is the place" well you all know IT WASNT THE PLACE he was actually located next door, this was his wifes office. For those of you who know us we were in hysterics as we couldnt believe we just did what we did but in our true fashion we laffed and laffed till it made our heads hurt. Anyway once we entered the real offfice we sat down and waited and waited and did i mention waited! Finally the nurse came to get us and in our true fashion we traipsed in to the consult together (for those of you wondering where Jeff was i told him he didnt have to take the time to shlep to this appointment). Dr. O'Campo was very nice and offered both sides of the reconstruction coin but i must tell you i had to bare the boobs again (no dignity i tell ya) and have yet another male tell me my breasts are large ...duh you can see that as i can but i am getting used to hearing it but sheesh!!! Anyway we were there for an hour or so and he answered all my questions and told me various things that can be done and what he recommends and doesn't recommend and i left there feeling fine and if this is something i consider later on he is definately who i would go to. If any of you woman out there need some reconstruction you might want to give him a call, he was very nice. Anyway another appointment out off the way and back to work we went.

Mich

T.G.I.F

Well the week is over YAHOO!

I will be traveling over the next couple weeks, so this is a great way for me to turn the reigns over to the REAL BLOGGING QUEEN Michelle :)

I have to tell you she is to much .. All we do is laugh .. She was telling me how she tried to enter a blog last night but didn't get to the screens, so I am hoping to read many updates while I am gone.

This week we had (2) appointments which I will let Michelle fill you in on the details, but I am very happy that we are getting as much taken care of in advance as we can. Throughout this week she has remained positive, focused and her lovable self!

Last night we all went to dinner together and it was great for laughs!

So on that note, I can hardly wait to read Michelle's blogs.

PS Thank you Dr. Schuster for your suggestions on a medical oncologist. Michelle really liked her, and Nelly thank you! thank you! thank you! for all your help, support and explaining that you have provided not only to Michelle, but to me and my family. I will be forever thankful.


Love,
Barby!

First Time ..

Well I have never actually written a blog, but, I can say I have definitely read many! I wanted to start off this blog for my sister so that she has a comfortable place where she can write down her thoughts, and updates for those who want to stop by and check in.

This will also be a place where me and my family can also log our thoughts and updates on Michelle as well.

What I can say right now is that I am so proud of her.

I was with Michelle when she got the call at work to advise she had breast cancer. I was in my office and then she instant messaged me to say "it was not good". I rushed out of my office to hers as she continued on her call, then also asked to speak to the physician. They told me she had Invasive Ductal Carcinoma. I had no idea what that was, then she said the two words no one ever wants to hear "Breast Cancer".

The look on my sister's face is one that will be with me for a lifetime. I knew right then and there a piece of my heart broke that day and would not be replaced.

I took my sister into another office and had 2 of my colleagues come in to speak to us and explain what just happened. As you can imagine this was very hard for her and me to digest as it came as a total surprise her mammogram would be positive as no one in our family history that we knew or know has this disease. Not to say you can never get it, but usually one doesnt think about it. My colleagues gave us very benefical information to get us at ease. The words I will always carry with me are "it's treatable, and curable". Those are the magic words that I am sticking with.

While my colleagues spoke to Michelle I asked her if she wanted me to call the family. One by one with her in front of me, I called everyone starting with her husband. This was not an easy thing to tell any of them and to hear their voices you can imagine.

I took Michelle home and we went to go get her films etc that she will need so we can start to do our research and get ready for what will be coming ahead.

I told Michelle that I would become her patient advocate to take care of all medical needs and items for her so that she and her husband would not have to stress over anything all she would have to do is show up. To date we have scheduled everything that we need to do.

For those that may not know what to do, we learned and moved fast.

This includes:
1. Finding a breast surgeon
2. Finding a reconstruction surgeon (so you know your options)
3. Finding a medical/oncologist
4. Finding support groups
6. Learning all research and what to do post surgery (look good, feel good programs).

To date we have almost everything set for Michelle and her family and my family and me will be there to support her in whatever she needs.

The best part is Michelle is doing tons of reading to get herself familiarized with what will be happening and she is actually handling this very well considering. I told her its good to know what they will tell you in advance so not such a shocker so we are telling each other EVERYTHING that we hear and read.

I know this will not be an easy road for my sister and her family, but what I do know is that she will have all of us in her corner doing whatever we need to, to be there for her and do whatever we can. Like I joked to her last night, she's a "bull dog" and takes no crap :) ... so this will be no different.

I hope you will check in often on her happenings and I thank you for coming to visit!

I love you Midge :)



Barby