Good News!...

Dear Family,

Today was my 3rd chemo so I am halfway through this chemotherapy. The next week could be rocky or not. The last chemo had few side effects so I hope this is a repeat.

Lots of medicines, steroids, poisons, shots and preventatives going in... lots of things happening all over my body but so far I really do feel fine. Ask me next week.

Two fabulous friends, Marty Osbourne and Mary Rowlands, accompanied me on this adventure. They brought me tulips , movie and trash magazines and strawberries. When over, they took me to lunch with their friends from North Tacoma. It was a treat and made my treatment day fun!

I continue to get support, e-mails and calls from all of you and this is immensely satisfying.

Yesterday I read a really great short novel from Costco called "The First Five People You Meet in Heaven". It's written by the author of "Tuesdays With Morrie." I recommend it to all of you. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to read and is quite uplifting. So if you see it, pick up a copy and enjoy and uplift.

Good News for all family. My gene test came back negative for BRCH1 and BRCH2. This means that I don't carry the well publicized gene (with an 85% positive result) that is passed down through families so you can breathe a sigh of relief. If I don't carry it , none of my offspring, boys or girls has inherited it to send down to their children. I doubt that My siblings carry it either. Obviously if one of us had it, it would be me!

The Dr. does want me to meet with a geneticist after I'm through treatment to go over the family tree. Not all breast cancer is inherited but there is a strong predominance in our family tree. So I would continue to urge all Fords and future generations to get mammagrams, do the mirror test and mention Lobular cancer to your doctors.

It is a thickening of the walls, a mass not a tumor. One out of 9 women develop breast cancer. The sheer numbers of Crowley and Fords alerts us to be vigilant!

I wanted to get the results to all of you immediately. Now we can rejoice in babies and good news and put this scare behind us.

Much love,

Susie