Thank you all for the kind words and support. It means a lot to me and I will relay them to my wife. Like I said, I wasn't even going to make a public announcement of my wife's cancer, but when something like this happens to you and your loved one there is the desire to find some meaning to all of it if that makes any sense. I finally decided that it would be irresponsible of me to not say something about our ordeal. I don't want to sound clich but if just one of you reads this and decides to do a self exam this month, or if one of you has found a lump, had decided to dismiss it, reads this and goes in to see her doctor, then this post will have done its job. I want to see some good to come out of this. That's not to say that some good hasn't already come out of this. I have seen it before and it is amazing how good can come out of bad. I have seen it in my life. I have had adversity in my life. I have had to point the nose of the boat into the wind and weather the storm more than once. Somehow I think I was being prepared for this storm. When my wife came home and told me that they had found cancer I felt about as powerless as I have ever felt in my entire life. This was a beast that I couldn't fight. But soon after I realize that there were things that I could do. I could be the most supportive husband that I could possibly be. I could help with decisionmaking when my wife had trouble making decisions. This was especially important during chemo. I could be her buffer from the rest of the world. Nobody talked to her unless they went through me. Of course this excluded friends and family and anyone who was willing to give good news and support. There were some people who wanted to talk to her just for their own interests though. I always took care of those people. And even with my disabilities I was able to take up some of the slack with chores and grocery shopping. The other good thing that came out of this was the demonstration that there are good people out there who want to be generous and help. Along with that, I became a big believer of karma. My wife is just a sweetheart and is nice to everyone. I would like to think that I have some of that myself. Anyway, you wouldn't believe the generosity demonstrated by the people in her work place. People from her job offered her weekly rides to chemotherapy. This lasted for five months. Her friends really came through for her and took up some of the slack when her work friends couldn't make an appointment. Even several of my friends wanted to help. They also gave her rides to doctor's appointments. During this time period I also needed rides to my doctor's appointments. The world didn't stop for me. Most of my doctors are too far for me to drive to. So these friends of mine were generous enough to do that for me too. I talked about the world not stopping. When a thing like cancer happens, there is a feeling for the need to have the world to stop, just to give one a breather. That doesn't happen. Within the next two weeks of the diagnosis the car needed repairing, my father had a heart attack and my wife's brother also had a major health crisis. A month after the start of chemo my sister would find a lump in her breast. Fortunately it was just a water cist. The world keeps turning no matter what. So, this chapter of our lives is over. That is to some extent. The chance of my wife living more than 10 years are excellent. We do however need to be vigilant. Examinations need to be done on a regular basis. There is always the possibility of this thing coming back. But for now we celebrate! Thank you all for listening. Take care, Larry

Hi Susie, thinking of you and your family as you grieve for the loss of dear Wendy. I'm so sorry for the pain I know you are all feeling. I do believe she is waiting in peace, and pain free, with all of our other beloved pets. Hang in there and know that thoughts for peace and comfort are being sent your way from all over the country. (Susie and family))) DONNA

My wife had a mastectomy 10 yr ago and because of a potential threat, all 21 nodes were striped out. Back then, that was the standard practice. Her lump was fairly large: A lumpectomy was performed while she was on the operatng table and the quick analysis said the margin was not 'clean' so the surgeon proceded with the full procedure including all node removal. It truned out that all nodes were clean and the removal was unnecessary. We also found that if the surgeon had removed just a little more material around her lump, the margin would have been clean and that would have prevented a lifetime of problems. Less than 2 years later, the recommendation for her case type changed and the new procedure became: remove the first node and check it. If it is ok, stop. It was our experience that removal of all nodes create a drainage problem. Fluid tends to build up for at least 6 weeks until the body can find ways to absorb and reroute it. These nodes are part of the drainage system for the infection fighters. The body did eventually heal, but a comprise remains. My wife has a lifing restriction of 10 lbs on that arm for the rest of her life. A larger weigth will not do physical harm, but the exertion can overload the drainage system and the muscles may be weak. it can result in a minor injury that will take a long time to heal. So my advice is: Do not let your nodes be removed unless these are PROVEN invaded. Over 10 years ago, complete removal was done to insure that an invaded node was not missed. In too many cases (back then) when nodes were left, they gave trouble and once the cancer invaded the nodal system, it is very late. Better (and faster) detection plus more research has changed the picture. Be sure to discuss with your oncologist.

HELP! I am so worried now I can't even sleep because I'm afraid the grossly enlarged lymph node will choke her. I have been to the vet 3 times already. I had a second opinion cuz I did not think my vet was moving quick enough and now I'm terrified that my vets option is to extract the gland. So here it goes. Two weeks ago I noticed her left lymph node was a bit swollen, took her to the vet immediately, they checked teeth, ears, eyes and skin. She had an ear infection and from birth I know she has eye allergies, so they gave her ear treatment, eye cream and something else because she was licking her paw, oh and also medication for the swollen lymph node. A week goes by and the thing is still there, slightly growing. They gave me a different medication. Another week goes by and, as weird as it may sound, during 3 hours before her follow-up appointment the lymph node grew exponentially I'm talking it felt like the size of a small grape and it ended up looking like a small orange, and it keeps growing as I type. I ran to the vet, and they tell me that they have to go inside and extract it that an aspirate wouldn't help much at this point, because they have determined that is not going away just with medication. That what ever it turns out to be lymphoma or glandular reaction or what ever, I will still have to get it extracted. They basically recommended to get it extracted right away, get the biopsy from the extracted lymph node and have it examined to check what that is. I took her to a second vet the same day and they performed an aspiration only to tell me that it was inconclusive, but that there was no pus inside. Now I just don't know what to do. All I'm asking is for some to tell me that my primary vet is correct or that it makes sense and that I should do as recommended. I would really appreciate it. Thanks!