I know you have all been patiently waiting my update today and I have so many text and calls letting me know that you have all been thinking of me today! First off I would like to say thank you for the positive thoughts, prayers and messages, this has all helped! I am ecstatic to say that we received the news from my surgeon that he was able to get all the cancer out and it did not spread to any of my lymph nodes or anywhere else that we know! I no longer have cancer in me and I am extremely grateful that I can say that at this point! I will however have to move on to the next step of going through chemotherapy and then radiation. These things are basically an insurance to make sure that NO cancer cells have migrated anywhere else in my body. Because I have this at a young age these cancer cells move very rapidly and they want to make sure this does NOT return! Of course I will lose my hair and not feel well but I am thankful I am alive and well. I be starting chemotherapy in about mid December however we will know the exact details when I meet with the oncologist in a few weeks. I will update everyone with further results but right now most important thing, it is gone! My surgeon is amazing and has treated me with much respect and has really done his best to make this an easy process. I am thankful to Dr LaFreniere for extending my life, as he put it I'll probably live to 100 :). Jenn xo
I am constantly reminded of the kindness and the amazing friends and family I have across Canada and the USA. I have been asked by many people if it is ok if they can contact me to hangout because they do not want to bug me. The answer is YES bug me haha. I would love to hang out with you and would love to hear from you! Because I am between so many cities I am going to start posting where I am so friends can contact me and make plans when I am in their city! Even if you don't have the time to hang out with me I would still love to hear from you. I also wanted to share what my co-workers and friends have put together for me. I know these things take a ton of work and I am so very appreciative of these kind gestures. This really put a smile on my face and I hope you all enjoy their messages. Jenn xo Today I realize that I am definitely not the only one that has to go through this. I know that there are a million others that have cancer and also have to go through what I am going through and I feel lucky as some people have it worse. My brother in law who is a paramedic speaks to people in these situations daily. He just spoke to a terminally ill cancer patient and shared with me that his best advice is to stay positive. If someone who knows they only have a certain time left on this earth can stay positive, I certainly can and I think that this is a lesson in any situation. Positivity is the key and I have heard it from so many of my friends and family so thank you for this and I hope everyone can stay positive no matter what situation is thrown at them! Most of you know what a huge country fan I am. I saw the video below on facebook today and thought that this was an amazing gesture from Garth Brooks making a day of a women with Breast Cancer take a look - I am sure it will put a smile on your face. These kind of kind gestures help me stay positive and I want to thank all my family and my friends for staying positive, sending positivity and helping me be positive! Jenn xo Hi everyone, It has been three days since my surgery and I have been asked a lot about how I am feeling. I am feeling sore but I am doing pretty good and have been able to get out a couple times and do some "normal" running around. My incision is pretty gross and is about 12 cm long with stitches (yuck!). The stitches will dissolve eventually but I will be back visiting the surgeon next Monday for a follow up. I have also been asked by many friends and family that they are wanting to help me financially. I said I don't want them to but of course my friends and family are stubborn and will do it anyways. We have decided to open up a specific account for this reason. This way, the funds donated to me can go towards medical bills that we will have to endure. This may include fertility treatments that we've heard could cost up to $20,000, parking at the hospital or some medicine that is not covered and other costs we are not even aware of yet. We actually did not realize how much this would cost and of course, appreciate hearing that people want to help out! We have added a page on the website that people can donate directly into a secure site. This will then be deposited into my medical fund. Of course I am not asking people to do this; it is only because people have been asking! I am happy with something as simple as a text from you! Thank you for the ongoing support. I have been thanked by numerous people for sharing my story. This process has taught me so many things and I'm sure it will teach me more throughout the journey. I hope my story is helping others as I go along! Jenn xo
I wanted to send out a HUGE THANK you to everyone that sent out their thoughts, good vibes, prayers and positive vibes out yesterday. This all helped as the surgery went as planned and everything went well. As per my sisters post yesterday they were able to take out the tumor and lymph node and now we will just have to wait for the report which they should have by Monday, November 17. I will then go for my follow up appointment on Monday to learn the details on the report. At this time we will know the stage of the cancer, if it has spread and the path of care I will have to do next. I will also be referred to the oncologist where I will find out the type of chemotherapy I will have to do and when this will start. In the next few weeks I will also be referred to the fertility clinic and genetic testing. Today I was also reminded by someone that I should be thanking my family as sometimes we don't realize that parents and siblings are just as affected by this illness as the person that is sick. I am extremely lucky as not only do I have my amazing mom, dad and sister I have a very caring step dad, step mom, step brother and brother in law. Every single one of them has been there for me in all different ways and have been very strong through this process. I love you all and thank you for being there for me! I will keep you all updated with the report results and what the next steps are. Thanks again for the LOVE as I said before this means the world to me! This is one step of many that has to be done so keep the love coming! Jenn xo
Hello Everyone
Its Meaghan. I know everyone has been patiently awaiting an update. Jenn's Surgery was delayed and she didn't end up going in for surgery until about 12:30. Longest wait i've ever endured but she finally moved to recovery at around 2 and didn't get back to her bed until around 3:30 when Mom and I were able to go see her. She has high spirits. All seemed to have gone good. When she came out her first words were "I'm so happy i still have my nips and tits!" Obviously with this being said, it means they were able to do just a lumpectomy. At this point there are no results. They have taken the cancer and lymph nodes to be biopsied and later next week Jenn will have a appt with her surgeon to talk about what he found. Thank you for everyones continued support and love for my sister. I know Jenn appreciates EVERY SINGLE text, message and call that comes her way. Meaghan <3 Today was my first of two day hospital visit. I had to get injected with radioactive material for them to be able to find the lymph nodes tomorrow in surgery. I HATE needles so today was a struggle but i survived! Tomorrow I am booked for surgery for 9:55am. The surgery will be a couple hours and recovery will be a couple hours so I should be home by tomorrow night. THANK YOU for everyones texts, emails and all other messages. This honestly means so much to me and I love to see and hear from you at any time. If I haven't got back to you I will I am trying to catch up with messages, but keep them coming! It really is keeping me smiling! My mom or sister will update the site as soon as possible tomorrow. Jenn xo
On Friday, we met with Jenn’s surgeon, Dr. LaFreniere. He was kind, comforting, informative and compassionate and told Jenn he would treat her like his daughter. Dr. LaFreniere presented Jenn with two surgical options based on his exam and the biopsy. He also told us that the tumour had not increased in size (good news) and Jenn's lymph nodes were clear on the physical exam (good news). After careful thought and speaking with her family, Jenn has chosen to have a lumpectomy. Surgery has been scheduled for Thursday, November 6th. Because of Jenn’s young age and based on the pathology report (which will tell us the stage), chemotherapy will be required. It will start in approximately 6 weeks following surgery and will continue over a 4 month period. Following that, it will be daily treatments of radiation for about 4 weeks. Jenn has also chosen to be referred to the Fertility Clinic to pursue the freezing of her eggs should she choose to have children in the future. This is because the treatments Jenn will be receiving could have an impact on her future fertility. It was a lot of information to receive in a day, but Jenn has faced it with courage. We want to thank Michelle (Jenn's boss) who came to the appointment with us and wrote detailed notes, which allowed us to be fully engaged in the conversation with Dr. LaFreniere. Shelley
Hi Everyone, I thought this would be a great tool for me to communicate what is happening with my diagnosis. I have had so much positive support that I feel this is the best way to update everyone without missing any information. As you are all aware I have been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 31. I found a lump about 7 weeks ago and was scheduled for an ultrasound appointment for last week. I consider myself an active young person and did not think much of this but with my mom being in the medical field we were able to expedite the process to be safe. To date I have now gone for my ultrasound, received a biopsy and was diagnosed with breast cancer, have seen a surgeon and made some decisions all in the time I was supposed to be waiting for my first ultrasound. I was diagnosed on October 20th and since then there has been many decisions that had to be made and of course will update you on these. I was also dating my boyfriend for the last 6 months, a week after my diagnosis he decided he no longer wanted to be with me and I am now single. Work has been amazing and for those who don't know my boss and friend Michelle was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 30's almost 2 years to the date of my diaognosis. Although not wanting to have an expert on this subject, Michelle has helped me through many things these past few weeks. I am on short term disability right now for 6 months which will then turn into long term disability. According to the physicians, surgeon and my expert sounds like I will need the time! Jenn xo
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