Livit's Cancer Journey
This page is meant to provide updates on Livit's treatments and recovery.
Aloha Friends,
I hope this finds you well. My heart goes out to anyone suffering from a serious disease like cancer.
It's been a month since my DCIS cancer diagnosis. After meeting with a couple of surgeons to explore my options, I have decided to have what's called breast conserving surgery (BCS), AKA a lumpectomy. My surgery date is set for April 29, 2024 at the Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu. My surgeon is Dr. Laura Peterson. The plan is to travel to Oahu on April 26, and return home on May 2. My dear friend Laurie (not on FB) will accompany me on this trip. We will stay at Hope Lodge, a facility established by the American Cancer Society (ACS). Hope Lodge provides a free place to stay for neighbor islanders during treatment so people with cancer can focus on getting better. ACS will also provide rides to and from the airport, to treatments, and to grocery shopping. Wow, I am amazed at the support available once you have cancer.
Speaking of support, a huge mahalo to everyone who responded with words of encouragement, offers of help with rides, meals, and companionship. It truly means so much to me.
In my first post on the subject, I was considering having a bilateral mastectomy (DMX), but after learning what DMX surgery and recovery entails, and reviewing the nuances of my specific diagnosis and risk factors, I concluded that at this point it simply isn’t necessary to go to the extremes of DMX. My surgeon advised that even with a DMX, I could still have a recurrence, although the risk is quite low. It’s only slightly higher with a BCS.
My after-surgery plan will be focused on active surveillance via frequent mammograms. With the blessing of my surgeon, I am going to forego radiation endocrine, and bone therapies. One reason for this choice is based on something I learned these past few weeks, that is, once you have radiation, it is not advisable to have it again in the same area. Also, there are many side effects to these therapies that I don’t want to experience. Since my risk level without these adjuvant therapies is acceptable to me, I’ll *bank* them for future use if needed. I would seriously consider them if I develop invasive cancer.
Laurie and I will spend about a week on Oahu, and I’m hoping to feel well enough to be able to get out and explore the island a bit, at least in the days before surgery.
Mahalo again to everyone who has wished me well. I’m not sure yet how much help I’ll actually need, but my guess is it will be far less than I would with a DMX.
To be continued…
Dear Friends and Family,
On February 15, 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I'm sharing this for two reasons. 1) to educate anyone for whom this is relevant, and 2) to ask for your help post-surgery.
I never thought it would happen, but with a mother who passed away from breast cancer, it was not improbable. The name of my cancer is DCIS, grade 3, which stands for ductal carcinoma in situ. DCIS is also called pre-cancer or stage 0. This means the cancer cells were found in one or more ducts, but have not invaded surrounding tissue, which is good news! In addition to staging, breast cancer is graded 1, 2 or 3, with grade 1 being unlikely to advance to invasive, and grade 3 being more likely to become invasive. Grade 2 is in between. Not much research is being done on my Stage 0 Grade 3, so it's basically treated as Stage 1 invasive cancer.
I am in the process of determining treatment options. Surgery is going to happen, probably in mid to late April. I will most likely have mastectomies in order to avoid having to do radiation, endocrine, and bone therapies that would be required if I had a simple lumpectomy (otherwise known as breast conserving surgery.) I will be having surgery on Oahu island, at the Kapiolani medical center, and will stay on Oahu for several days afterwards. The risk of recurrence after mastectomies is very low.
I'm looking to put together my posse of helpers, and have been advised that I should expect to need some help for 4-6 weeks. I will be renting a recliner as it is recommended by many for sleeping.
Specific kinds of help needed will be:
- making and delivering healthy fresh meals;
- taking 1-3 hour shifts being here at my home in Wailuku while I rest, in case I need something I can't reach or get for myself.
- taking an overnight shift (I have a separate bedroom with one twin bed available);
- rides to and from the Kahului airport for surgery date and follow-up care;
- Shopping for items that are needed but not anticipated;
- Company for visiting, once my body gets strong enough;
- that's all I can think of right now!
Some of you are living on the mainland; perhaps you'd like to visit and combine helping me with seeing this beautiful island I've called home since 2002.
Thank you in advance for thinking of me and offering help if it works for you.