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    Why Mom?: A Father's Journal of Mom's Breast Cancer Battle
    Why Mom?: A Father's Journal of Mom's Breast Cancer Battle
    Why Mom?: A Father's Journal of Mom's Breast Cancer Battle
    Ebook61 pages55 minutes

    Why Mom?: A Father's Journal of Mom's Breast Cancer Battle

    By Andy Fitzpatrick

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    About this ebook

    "Why Mom?" is a firsthand heartfelt journal captured by a a husband when his wife is diagnosed and treated for triple negative breast cancer at only 39 years old. It is an emotional account that reveals the challenges and feelings parents and children face when cancer enters their household. I hope that this book will help bring comfort and understanding to others faced with similar challenges that they are not alone. I also hope that after you read this journal you truly appreciate the gift of life and value and power of love.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateOct 28, 2010
    ISBN9781452079264
    Why Mom?: A Father's Journal of Mom's Breast Cancer Battle
    Author

    Andy Fitzpatrick

    Andy Fitzpatrick is a loving husband and father of two young twin boys. He was born in Maine and resides in Veazie with his family along the Penobscot River. Andy enjoys a successful career spanning from hands-on engineering to executive leadership both domestic and abroad. No challenge had prepared Andy to deal with his wife Kim's breast cancer diagnosis.

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      Book preview

      Why Mom? - Andy Fitzpatrick

      How The Journey Began……

      It seemed too surreal after a routine annual checkup a call came in from the radiologist that they wanted to see Kim again. They had found a lump and needed a closer look. Just days later and a biopsy we got the news. Yup….just what nobody ever wants to hear. We think you many have cancer.

      What type of cancer? How could Kim have cancer? For God’s sake she is a seventeen year registered nurse who works in a cancer infusion clinic. No way they must have screwed up the folders in the office and gave us somebody else’s. She doesn’t have a single symptom and feels 100% ok?

      From here the testing regimen was rolled out very hastily to determine where and what type of cancer so a treatment regimen could be determined. We had our first consultation with our surgeon and I think we were both in denial that this was as serious as it was being treated. When the surgeon said you have cancer and we have to get rid of it the blanket of denial was peeled off and we felt like we were in a room looking down on two people that looked like us. From there the information started to flow like trying to drink through a firehouse. Even with Kim’s years of experience as a nurse and me with an engineering degree we felt completely overwhelmed as we left the office with an appointment for surgery just a week from that day.

      We hit the wall of waves of butterflies in our stomachs and questions from all directions from friends and family. We couldn’t answer much because it was early. So many people shared stories of cancer. It was unbelievable how much that damn stuff was around us and we just never believed it was hitting us. I began to wonder who didn’t have cancer.

      Surgery day came quick and started with a sentinel node biopsy followed by a lumpectomy. It was a terrible waiting game. If not for the incredible warmth and caring from the staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital I do not know how we could have got through this day. What is your name? What is your birthday? Why are you here? There were so many faces and the same questions even when most knew Kim on a first name basis. She started with a sentinel node biopsy which was somewhat of a torture session. No pain killers available, just needle after needle to inject radioactive trace material. Just after two hours of lying on the table I am sure you can guess what we were told. The test was unsuccessful and the surgeon will have to do the best she can once she begins. We went back to the tense waiting game of pre-operative preparation. Estimated time was two hours for our surgery and worst case Kim would have to have lymph node after lymph node pulled and dissected to determine the stage of cancer in her body.

      Wonderfully I met with a smiling surgeon hours later very proud they found a very clean looking sentinel node and successful lump removal. Thank God we are through another door of this journey and some great news for a change!

      The tumor was sent for testing and it was so small. We wouldn’t need any chemo right? A week later we are back at Cancer Care of Maine with a diagnosis of triple negative cancer.

      What is triple negative cancer? Well breast cancers are classified by whether or not they express the genes for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor or Her2/neu. These three receptors are known to help the cancer develop, and the most successful breast cancer treatments are hormone-based drugs that directly target these receptors. It is important to know what subtype the cancer is before commencing treatment as different drugs target different receptors.

      Triple-negative breast cancer cells do not express any of these receptors. This means they are generally unresponsive to such standard receptor-mediated treatments. However, other forms of chemotherapy can still generate positive outcomes. Some reports even suggest they are more susceptible to non-receptor mediated therapies than other tumors.

      Although triple-negative breast cancer can be treated with chemotherapy, early relapse and metastasis (spread to other tissues) is common. We are advised due to the reoccurrence rates most likely chemotherapy is unavoidable with a regimen of radiation to follow. The wind is sucked from our sails once more and we drive quietly back home with millions of thoughts. How will the boys react? What will be the health impact? Please not the hair loss!

      Now that we have a name for this cancer we immediately began the research

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