Hi there,
My sweet friend Rachael set up this website for us. There may be times she posts on my behalf. Please feel free to pass this website on to others as well as read the bio information for details on how all of this happened. I wanted to give you an update from our doctor’s appointment today. There are a lot of praises and a few more requests resulting from today’s consult. Thank you in advance for all the ways you are supporting us!
- We liked the doctor I met today at Breast Care Specialists (BCS). Her name is Dr. Steinhaus and she will be my surgeon and team lead going forward. This is a HUGE praise!
- Dr. Steinhaus seemed to think this is a less aggressive cancer (HER2- or ER+) (another HUGE praise!) but we won’t know for sure until the factor results from the biopsy come back. Please pray for slow growing (less angry) cells.
- We have a tentative plan for treatment; however, it will not be set in stone until we have results from the genetic testing, MRI, & biopsy factors. The tentative plan is a right, nipple removing, skin sparing, full mastectomy. And my cancer card gets me a free boob job on the left so that they match :). After the oncologist sees the pathology report from the tumor (and all previously gathered information) she will then determine my treatment after surgery. My options would be chemotherapy or a daily estrogen-blocking pill for the next 5-10 years. Please pray that I will not need chemo. She thinks surgery will be sometime in the next 4-5 weeks.
- Doctor appointments coming up: On Monday (2/15), I will have some genetic testing done at 10:30 am as well as meet with a plastic surgeon for a consult at 3:00 pm. I am waiting to hear from the second plastic surgeon to schedule with them. Currently my MRI is scheduled for Friday (2/19) at 7:00 am, but please pray when I call back on Monday they can get me in sooner.
- The three things we are consistently praying for are:
- Better results than we expect from every doctor appointment and test.
- Good sleep every night for me and the rest of the family.
- Hamilton’s heart. We will soon fill him in on what’s going on.
We will continue to try to update as we know more. There is also a FaceBook page if you would like to follow along click here: TeamAJ
I know the question you are all wondering is how am I doing? I am fine. Really. Like…seriously. š I so appreciate the out-pouring of love and prayers. I really need your intercessory prayer right now because words are not necessarily coming between me and God currently. It’s not because I’m mad, angry, or bitter – it’s just because I have no words. I am experiencing, really probably for the first time, an overwhelming peace that is passing all understanding. I am not fearful. I take comfort that God is not surprised by this. I have hope because I serve a God that never changes which proves I can trust him. So today and throughout this adventure I am choosing to trust.
I had been asking God to give me a verse that I could cling to during this, and this may sound completely silly, but my boys were watching VeggieTales Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry Men. It’s all about the concept that God cares for us. Cares for you (and me) specifically, individually, and purposefully. The verse the show is based on is Psalm 55:22-23, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken…as for me, I trust in you.” I’m humming the song they sing in the show (you should watch it) “He’ll care for you, He’ll care for you, He loves you and He’s always there for you. His burden is light, His promise is true. God will take care of you. God will take care of you.” So that is my verse in this.
I’m going to close with this. Last weekend Mark and I went away to the Winshape Retreat Center for a marriage retreat. We spent a lot of time planning, goal-setting, and casting vision for our family in 2016. My gut was telling me that God was preparing me to change the 6s to 7s – that he had a different plan for my 2016. I loved that He gave me such a sweet opportunity to connect and have quality time with my hubby before this storm came. One of the things we do each year is choose a word & a fruit of the spirit (thank you Jeff Henderson) for each family member for the year. My word was Pray and my fruit was Faithfulness. Mark’s word was Strong and his fruit was Peace. I love how detailed our God is that he would lead us to these words and fruits specifically for this time.
Our God is divine and sovereign…ALL the time!
Ashley
Ashley Jansen 