Spotlight on: Toddler Planet

The Gardener has returned from a nice, long, relaxing vacation! Are you ready to read about some fabulous blogs and bloggers? The Gardener is ready to get back to work and bring them to you here in the Garden.

This morning, while surfing here and there, we discovered a post at Whirlwind entitled “It Could Save Your Life” with the tag line “Keep it going.”

Reading closer, we realized that the words there were actually written by WhyMommy who describes herself as a “scientist turned stay-at-home-mom, always looking for something fun and exciting to do with the kids.” Photos of her children grace the sidebar: “Widget was born August 2004; Little Bear in January 2007. Dad and the dog round out our busy house of boys. We laugh, we play, we build, and we learn.”

The day after learning that her mother-in-law had breast cancer, WhyMommy shared that after giving birth to her youngest this past January, she was unable to nurse on the right side.

In light of her mother-in-law’s diagnosis, she visited her physician and described the symptoms, certain that she would leave the examination room reassured that all was well:

It dimpled. It ached. And the surface? Ewwww, it looks (and feels) like an orange peel, in places. Lumps, dimples, texture, and all. In fact, it had been getting that way for quite some time, but I really hadn’t noticed. I’ve been so concerned about the baby’s latch and feeding expertise, I kind of forgot to consider that it might be me. It’s looked funny for a while, and it’s getting stranger and more orange-peely and lumpy. And now? No milk. None at all. It’s an official nonworking boob.

And it feels funny.

So I hightailed it to my OB, who happened to have an appointment open up today, and went in, asking him to reassure me that all was normal and this is just one of those things that can happen upon weaning.

Um, no.

Her mystified doctor referred her to a breast cancer center which left her understandably terrified. On June 24, 2007, a lump was detected. The next day, the surgeon collected one skin and seven core biopsies.

The Diagnosis was received on June 26, 2007:

There’s no easy way to say this.

I have breast cancer.

I also have a 5 month old son, a 2.5 year old son, a wonderful adoring and supportive husband, a fantastic family, and good friends who love me.

Thank God for that.

I may need you all.

Please be careful in your comments to me right now — I love and need the support and comments, but I will NOT feel sorry for myself, and I won’t have anyone else feeling sorry for me either right now. I’m in this to win, and I’m going to fight it with every fiber of my being. I have no time to wait and mope about this, for I start chemo on/about July 13. Two weeks from today. The day my baby son turns 6 months old.

If you pray, pray for my strength and success in this fight.

I will continue to post every day, so I don’t slip into sadness over here. Help me stay focused and positive, okay?

I will need you all.

To be specific, WhyMommy has inflammatory breast cancer which has already invaded her lymphatic system.

Team WhyMommy came into being on June 29, 2007, at Don’t Take the Repeats. Canape has established a Wall of Support. If you would like your blog to be listed, just grab the badge and link back to Don’t Take the Repeats or write a post about WhyMommy’s fight and send the link to Canape. Whymommy is appreciative of the support she is receiving and endorses Team Whymommy:

I’ve gone public with my cancer, from the very moment of diagnosis, for several reasons. One reason is to help educate other women and young moms that cancer can strike at any time, at any age – and you don’t even have to have a lump! Another reason is because I’ve gotten accustomed to typing out my thoughts and feelings — and I’m very likely to have some on this topic. A few. But the third — the third is very selfish.

I need people to know that I have cancer. I need them not to look away at the sight of my ugly bald head. I need them not to pity me when they see the young woman with the hat slowly moving along behind the two-kid stroller. I need them to cheer me on, instead, and to smile when they see me, and to help me see the good side of life. I need their thoughts and prayers and healing light and good spirits. Because I am not likely to be able to sustain this fight and positive outlook on my own.

Whymommy is undergoing chemotherapy which will be followed by surgery in January. Last night she republished “Because I am Not Ready to Move On” and has asked bloggers to share her article with their readers in order to educate others about the invidious disease she is fighting. Here are Whymommy’s words:

We hear a lot about breast cancer these days. One in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetimes, and there are millions living with it in the U.S. today alone. But did you know that there is more than one type of breast cancer?

I didn’t. I thought that breast cancer was all the same. I figured that if I did my monthly breast self-exams, and found no lump, I’d be fine.

Oops. It turns out that you don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer. Six weeks ago, I went to my OB/GYN because my breast felt funny. It was red, hot, inflamed, and the skin looked…funny. But there was no lump, so I wasn’t worried. I should have been. After a round of antibiotics didn’t clear up the inflammation, my doctor sent me to a breast specialist and did a skin punch biopsy. That test showed that I have inflammatory breast cancer, a very aggressive cancer that can be deadly.

Inflammatory breast cancer is often misdiagnosed as mastitis because many doctors have never seen it before and consider it rare. “Rare” or not, there are over 100,000 women in the U.S. with this cancer right now; only half will survive five years. Please call your OB/GYN if you experience several of the following symptoms in your breast, or any unusual changes: redness, rapid increase in size of one breast, persistent itching of breast or nipple, thickening of breast tissue, stabbing pain, soreness, swelling under the arm, dimpling or ridging (for example, when you take your bra off, the bra marks stay – for a while), flattening or retracting of the nipple, or a texture that looks or feels like an orange (called peau d’orange). Ask if your GYN is familiar with inflammatory breast cancer, and tell her that you’re concerned and want to come in to rule it out.

There is more than one kind of breast cancer. Inflammatory breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer out there, and early detection is critical. It’s not usually detected by mammogram. It does not usually present with a lump. It may be overlooked with all of the changes that our breasts undergo during the years when we’re pregnant and/or nursing our little ones. It’s important not to miss this one.

Inflammatory breast cancer is detected by women and their doctors who notice a change in one of their breasts. If you notice a change, call your doctor today. Tell her about it. Tell her that you have a friend with this disease, and it’s trying to kill her. Now you know what I wish I had known before six weeks ago.

You don’t have to have a lump to have breast cancer.

We support Whymommy and encourage all of our readers to do the same by displaying the badge and visiting Toddler Planet regularly to see how her treatment is going, offer a word of support and encouragement and — most importantly — converse with Whymommy about anything but cancer. Leave her a comment containing a joke, story, link . . . and remind her that life, including hers, is ongoing. Your support will infuse her with courage and strength just as your blog post containing her words, copied from the Garden into your own blog, will help spread the word and save lives.

The Magical Rose Garden is proud to stand in solidarity with Whymommy and all who are fighting any form of cancer.

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson’s Website, Blog @ MoreWhat.com, DeMediacratic Nation, 123beta, Adam’s Blog, Right Truth, Stuck On Stupid, Webloggin, Cao’s Blog, The Amboy Times, The Bullwinkle Blog, Leaning Straight Up, , Conservative Cat, Conservative Thoughts, Pursuing Holiness, third world county, Wake Up America, Woman Honor Thyself, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, The World According to Carl, Pirate’s Cove, Nuke’s news and views, Blue Star Chronicles, The Pink Flamingo, Wyvern Dreams, CommonSenseAmerica, Dumb Ox Daily News, High Desert Wanderer, Public Eye, and Church and State, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

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