Mary's Walk

As many of you know I was diagnosed with stage 2- her2 breast cancer in August of 2009. My treatments began right away with Mercy Hospital’s oncology team. And that is thanks to the support and guidance of Louise Hurlbutt who many of you know as well, has gone through the same diagnosis and is in her completion of successful treatment. I will speak for myself but know that Lousie feels the same way that our community has been our strength, our guidance and our support. We know that this was not an easy time for either of us. For me I am reminded daily of how grateful I am to live here and to have such wonderful friends and family that has kept me going.

Over the past 7 months I have endured Chemotherapy, 2 surgeries, and now in the completion stage of radiation treatments. I would love to say it was easy but many of you know through either your own personal experiences or through other friends it is not. However the out come to date has been incredible. I am feeling good and on the quick road to feeling great. I have worked at the store throughout most all of this time and have kept my friends and family close to my heart and soul. And as some of you also know I opened a second business during this time called H.B. Café 2. Because I didn’t have quite enough going on in my life I needed to add one more thing.

Helen has been my biggest cheerleader and support person and I know that I could have never done this without her being here everyday walking me through it. She has kept all of you posted through my web site with blogs. She has also kept the store running and now manages the new H.B. Cafe2.

As a gesture of continued support for Louise Hurlbutt and me we are asking you to now join us in Mary’s Walk and Maine Cancer Foundation- a local event that since its inception in 1999 has raised over One Million dollars for cancer research in Maine. This Walk began in Saco as a way to recognize the life of Mary Libby and has evolved into a community event to remember friends lost and to encourage and support those dealing with Cancer.

Louise & Bonnie

That being said Louise and I have formed a team and am asking you to support and join us on March 14^th to either a walk or run. Those who do wish to join us can learn more on line by going to www.maryswalk.org. You can pre-register by March 5^th and join our team, which you will see how to do so at that web site. Latecomers can register to join our team Sunday morning at the event. Others can sponser our team if you cannot join us. You may contribute on line in the name of Team Hurlbutt/HB Provisions. Don’t forget to memo our name. You may also send a check to Mary’s Walk, P.O.Box 746, Saco, Maine, 04072.

Please do this today and help us go for gold in walking or running for the cure of cancer.

It's all good!

Just wanted to give a quick update on Bonnie's pathology report and her progress.

There were still some cancer cells found in the second tissue removal but there was a clear margin which is the good news. The radiation oncologist, Dr Godin and the breast surgeon, Dr. Molin consulted and they determined that all the remaining cells could be blasted away with the radiation. Dr. Molin explained that those few cells were really not worrisome to them and with more concentrated radiation in that area it would all be taken care of.

Bonnie is feeling much better and has been out walking most days last week. Next week she meets with Dr. Godin for the breast mapping where they determine exactly where the radiation will go. Then a couple of weeks after that and when she has had more time to heal from the surgeries, she will begin radiation.

Helen

One more time....

Well.........we went to see the oncologist yesterday and the pathology report had just come in which showed that there were still a few cancer cells found in the tissue. The real issue is that the cancer cells were right on the edge of the margin (the tissue they took) so they are now not sure if there are more cells further out in the breast because they were at the edge of the sample taken or if they got all the cells. So to find out the answer to this question (did they get all the cancer cells) is to do another surgery, take out another centimeter of tissue around where the tumor was and have pathology determine if there are more cancer cells there or not.

Dr. Molin only took a small amount of tissue because of Bonnie's dramatic clinical response (doctor's words) and that there was no sign of any cancer cells where the tumor once was. Well that was using ultrasound, feel and sight but the pathologists did find a few cells (remember it only takes one cell to wreak havoc for someone) which I think was a surprise to everyone.

So on Friday Bonnie will have another surgery. This will be a quicker surgery since there is no lymph node work to be done and this time it will be going into the same place which is now clearly marked with the sutures. The hard part will be that it is more anesthesia which is hard on her and then of course the extended healing time.

Bonnie is in good spirits about all of this although she is sick of being sick. I will write more to let you know how she is doing after the surgery.

Helen

It's All Good News!!

Wow, I did not realize it had been so long since I last wrote a blog. Well lots of things have been happening and they are all good!

First of all Bonnie had an ultrasound last week (it's all a blur maybe it was the week before that) and they were looking for the tumor in anticipation of her surgery (yup that was today but more on that later!). The ultrasound technician at Mercy was very nice and as she looked and looked she was unable to find any kind of tumor. Finally after several minutes she was able to locate the clip* but no tumor around it. We were able to look at the ultrasound from August with the big old tumor and then the same area again with NO tumor. How cool is that?? As nasty and yucky (yes that is a technical term) as the chemo was it seemed to have done the job and really gave a heave ho to that tumor.

After the ultrasound we went off to see the breast surgeon, Dr. Molin who explained that the surgery would be very minor and she would just take out the clip and some surrounding cells and then just a few lymph nodes. Now remember when Bonnie saw the first breast surgeon she assured Bonnie she would definitely have to have a mastectomy so she really has come a long way in this roller coaster ride.

With the good news about the tumor Bonnie has had a couple of good weeks and has been very busy getting the new H.B. Cafe 2 ready to open. The Cafe is located at the new Goodall Health/Quest Fitness facility and opened last Monday, it is open Monday through Friday from 7am to 2pm. It is a very nice Cafe and seems to be another excellent business for Bonnie. Back in October Bonnie was looking to hire someone to manage the Cafe and I was looking for a job so she hired me to do the job. Now we plan all the doctor appointments in the afternoon so I can still go with her to all of those. Also we planned the surgery for today because the Cafe is closed New Year's Day and then the weekend so I will be around for a couple of days to help around here while she recovers.

With all this talk about the surgery I should tell you again that it was today and went without a hitch. Everyone was so kind and helpful which made it even better for Bonnie. The surgeon made two small incisions, one for the breast tissue (is this too much information??) and the other for the 4 lymph nodes they took out. She had very little pain and she will take Vicodin every 4 hours until tomorrow and hopefully by then she will be ready to just take extra strength Tylenol and Advil. For now she is sleeping in the reclining couch and has her two dogs sleeping right on her, I will wake her in a few hours to give her more Vicodin just to keep ahead of the pain as was suggested by the nurse.


Presurgery

So as 2009 comes to a close Bonnie has made great progress in stomping out the cancer in her body. She is a real fighter as you all know and has been a champ through all the treatments. She will still have to have radiation but that will not begin until early February so I am looking forward to her healing from the surgery and then feeling pretty good for a few weeks before the next phase.

That's all for now.

Happy New Year!

Helen

*The clip was put in back in August, it is the size of a rice grain and inserted in the middle of the tumor so later they can find where the tumor is or was.

A Day to Celebrate

Hello friends!

Back in September this day seemed like miles and days away but we celebrated today as Bonnie finished her last chemotherapy treatment! All of the usual stuff happened and it was really quite uneventful and a huge relief.

So in the next few weeks there will be an ultrasound, an echo cardiogram plus a few more blood tests and a doctor visit before the 31st and surgery. Bonnie is so proud that she has made it through the hard part and is looking forward to getting on with the rest of the treatment.

So that's it for today and we are looking forward (OK I am looking forward) to a little storm tomorrow!

Helen

Good News!!

Greetings!

The good news is that Bonnie is beginning to feel better from the pneumonia. It has been a slow recovery that is attributed to her getting beaten up by the chemotherapy every 3 weeks since September. Today for the first time since Thursday she was up and about and up to Portland to see the doctor.

The first appointment today was with Dr Molin who is the breast surgeon. The GREAT news is that the tumor can not be felt at all and that means there is very little that will need to be removed and only a couple of lymph nodes as well. The first doctor Bonnie saw in August had told her she would have a complete mastectomy and a large section of lymph nodes removed so she has come a long way in regards to the surgery! The surgery is scheduled for December 31 which will then give her a longer weekend for recovery. The surgery will be done at the new Mercy hospital as an outpatient, Dr. Molin said it will take approximately 1.5 hours from start to finish which seems pretty good. Carolyn (the chemo nurse) did say the recovery will be a little longer again because of all the chemo over the last few months and that Bonnie needs to really rest and give herself time to heal.

The next step after the surgery will be the radiation which will begin about a month after the surgery. For now Bonnie's sight's are on next Tuesday, the 8th which is when she will have the last round of chemo! YEAH!!

In the meantime work has been progressing on the new H.B. Cafe 2 which will be opening around the 16th of December. The new Cafe is located at the new Goodall Hospital/Quest Fitness facility on Livewell Drive in Kennebunk. Bonnie has been trying to find someone to run the Cafe and I have been looking for a job so it seems a good fit that I will run and manage the Cafe.

If you are here in town this weekend, we hope you have tons of fun at Prelude and if you are not here in town we wish you were because Prelude is one of the best events of the year!!

Helen

Tis the Season

Well it seems that everywhere we turn these days folks are coughing and sneezing and trying to get rid of that darn cold. Well Bonnie has also joined in with the coughing and stuffy nose and although she spent a couple of days resting on the couch as soon as she felt a smidge better she was up and running again. That was all fine and dandy except she woke up yesterday morning feeling worse than ever. The terrible cough, feeling achy all over and finally a temperature. After a few chats with the nurse at Mercy we were off for chest x-rays which showed that Bonnie has a touch of pneumonia. She started on antibiotics immediately and the doctor says she should be feeling better in a day or two. The good news is that she is sleeping well and this morning is beginning to feel a little better.
The good news in all of this is that Bonnie's white blood count is very high from an extra drug she takes. This has been her saving grace in this little cold because she has the cells that help her fight off the infection.
I will say Bonnie has the most devoted little dogs who spend all their time sleeping on her or next to her and only leave her when I pick them up to take them out and then Lily growls at me until I get her outside!
I will keep you posted on how she is doing. Thanks again for all your kind words, thoughts and prayers.

Helen