OT- Breast Cancer **Update SIX Months Cancer Free**

Stuart Ablett

Member
Messages
15,917
Location
Tokyo Japan
My wife Emiko has been diagnosed with breast cancer, she checks into the hospital tomorrow, and has the surgery on Wednesday, then a weeks recovery, then the Chemo starts.

Seems it has been caught in the first stages, her score in the Scarff-Bloom-Richardson system is a "5" which puts her on the upper limit of a Stage one breast cancer. The tumor is 1.7 cm in diameter and they will do a "Lumpectomy" which is good, and the prognosis is also very good.

Tomorrow I take her into the hospital in the morning and then I get to work all day, then back to the hospital to meet with the surgeon, around 8 PM. I'll know more then, but things seem very straight forward.

Most of the expenses are covered up to 70% by hour health care, and Emiko bought an insurance policy about 15 years ago that she has paid into every month, this will pay her a substantial amount of money, hopefully enough to cover the remaining %30 and any other expenses, like the meals in the hospital, that are NOT covered by our "Universal" health care :doh:, at least we should not have a staggering medical bill to shoulder as well.

The only down note is that the mother-in-law has been her usual poor excuse for a human being, which does not help, but no one was surprised either, but I'll not dwell no the insignificant.:)

We remain upbeat, a little scared but hopeful, I don't know if I'll be around much, or I might just be around a lot, depend I guess.

I was reluctant to write about this, as my wife is a very private person, you see we, as a family run business, live a fairly public life, everyone knows who we are, who are kids are etc, so privacy is a hard won thing for us, but in this case, we thought it was worth it, if even on of you guys makes it a point to talk to your significant other, mother, or lady in your life about getting a check up.

Thanks in advance.

Stu
 
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Stu,

I am work now and just reading this. I am very sorry to hear this news. I sincerely hope for a speedy recovery. On an up note I understand that breast cancer caught in the early stages has a very high rate of recovery. Let us know how it goes. We are all very concerned.
 
Stu, I'll have Emiko, you, and the rest of your family in my thoughts. Let her know she's got a lot of people pulling for her around the world. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help from here.
 
I'll have your whole family in my prayers. I know 2 ladies who have went through this, both caught in the early stages. Everything came out well for them. Keep up the faith.

Randy
 
Stu,

You and your family are in our prayers. I will be making an appointment today to see my doctor as I have found something this last weekend that does not feel right, have not slept well this weekend.

Heather
 
Stu,

You and your wife are in my prayers as well. As for your advice for regular testing, everyone should listen. My wife goes annually. So should every woman.
 
Stu,

Hang in there, man. It sounds like the prognosis is good. I don't say that lightly: five years ago this month, Doorlink went under the knife for the same thing. It was pretty scary, awful in fact, but she pulled through, and since then she's gone on to have a baby, get a degree, finally got the career she's always wanted. Seems so distant now that we just realized today that she's made it through her five years. Yes, there were some people around her who were awful about it, that always seems to happen, I guess people just react differently. The big thing is just to be with her as much as you can as she goes through it all (Doorlink had months of radiation, which was an ordeal in itself), while still holding everything together. It's strange how there's always lots of extraneous stuff that suddenly doesn't seem to matter. I won't say don't worry, nothing will prevent that, but I will say there's good reason to keep your chin up, people get though these things all the time. The only thing to do is to try to be positive: the girls need it, she needs it, and you need it too. Our thoughts are with you all.

Thanks,

Bill
 
Thanks everyone, it is very appreciated.

Bill, you bet your you know what I'm keeping positive, and proactive too.

I'm not sure the medical system here has ever had much use for a patient "Advocate" but they are going to meet one in me.

Cheers!
 
As I mentioned before Stu. I have two friends that have been through this in past year or so. One was very young and other in her 60's. Both have done well and both are close friends. It's scary but I am sure she will do well too!
 
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