January 5, 2016.  Whom to call?   My husband wanted Froedert.  We had recommendations from our doctor for others as well.  So I made calls.  By the afternoon I was at the Breast Cancer Clinic at Froedert seeing a Nurse Practioner to determine what was going on.  Visual test #3, again inconclusive.  Maybe, maybe not, hard to tell, is that good?  Welcome Doctor #1 Surgeon.  Visually it presents as possible IBC but could be Mastitis, or infection.  I am taking antibiotics by now, just in case it is only infection.  Time to schedule test #4, a breast MRI.  The scheduling angels worked their magic and that evening I had the MRI done.  Now we wait.

Now we pray, alot.  Beg that it's not cancer and we are lucky enough to beat the odds and "only" have an infection.  Trips to the shrine, trips to church, second guessing everything.  In the meantime life goes on.  You have to go to work, talk to friends and family like nothing is wrong because you hope nothing is wrong.  We don't want to tell the kids anything because you don't want to unnecessarily upset them.  Stress?  Maybe a little.  It's been one week since I discovered something wrong.

January 6, 2016.  MRI results are back.  They don't look good.  It is still presenting like a mastitis but two nodes look suspicious.  They would like to do a punch biopsy (ouch) and some cell farming from the nodes (more ouch).  It's the only way to be sure at this point.  Finally.  I'm ready, let's get some finality on this.

January 8,  2016

Test #5, Punch biopsy done by the nurse practitioner.  They take a fat needle with a wide opening and punch your boob, then pull a worm of tissue out of your boob.  Hurts like hell.  And to be safe they did it twice, once out of the bottom of the breast to get the "Orange peel" and once out of the Areola.  Stitched up and off to test #6, cell farming by a female Doogie Houser.  She was maybe 12....

Cell farming, an ultrasound of your nodes followed by a very thin needle forced into your node, shoved around while sucking cells out in the needle to collect a "good" sample.  Once the cell guy is happy with the sample collected they stop.  Whew.  Now it's the weekend.

Time to enjoy the Admirals game and daughter #1's birthday.  A few beers at the Old German Beer Hall, a nice game, and watching the 'kids' at Dukes.  Just the ticket to take your mind off your troubles for an evening.  Then more praying and hoping.  With increasing acceptance of the inevitable.  The agreement is, there is no talk about cancer during the weekend.  Time to step back and take a short break.  Thankfully.

January 11, 2016.  Biopsies are back.  They are positive.  I have breast cancer.  I have a rare breast cancer.  Inflammatory Breast Cancer accounts for only 1 to 5 percent of all breast cancers in the United States. Link. I always knew I was a rare one.......It's been less than 2 weeks since discovery.