What to say...

This week has been, among other things, one of the most overwhelming and totally shocking weeks of my life. On Monday Levi got a call at work that one of our very good friends has a very aggressive form of breast cancer... by "good friend" I mean someone we see at least three times a week, do most everything with and basically relate to as family. We love these people and I love this girl dearly. It was such a shock, she is only a few years older than me. She has a three year old son that Lincoln adores. She is a beautiful, gentle spirit and when I got the news as I stood in the parking lot of Walmart I almost dropped my son. It was like someone punched the air out of me. Today we learned of her treatment process and it once again left me speechless and breathless. What to say... nothing. "I am sorry" just didn't seem to mean anything. "I am praying for you" just didn't have the power that it usually does (not that my prayers are heard any less). The words just couldn't express how deeply saddened I am to watch my friend go through what is sure to be a tough battle. So this afternoon, before I got her update phone call I did what I normally do when my brain starts spinning... I researched breast cancer... while I sat and sobbed. Luckily Lincoln was sleeping so I could get it all out :0)

I wanted to share some interesting things with you that my research brought up. Did you know there is a type of breast cancer that presents itself in the form of an "infection" that mimics the symptoms of mastitis. It is called inflammatory Breast cancer and albeit rare, only accounting for 1-5% of all breast cancers, it is undetectable by ultrasound or mammogram because the cancer cells grown in concentric layers across the ductile tissue of the breast... there is no "lump"! This cancer is usually not caught until it is stage three, via biopsy, which means it has already spread to the lymph nodes and possibly farther. This is what my friend has. It is a very aggressive form of cancer and it has already spread to her bones and one lung. Today, despite the diagnosis the doctors gave my friend a lot of hope. Hope because she is so young and healthy. Hope that she is fully capable of overcoming this disease. God is good and does/allows all things for a reason. She starts chemo in the morning, please pray for my buddy and praise God for his sovereignty, peace, love and mercy.