First Week in Arkansas "Wooooo Pig Sooie Razorbacks!"

It's hard to believe we've already been here for one whole week!

The house is beginning to feel like our home as we have been putting things in place. I still have a lot to do, but it's coming together. We started the week, last Sunday, with a visit from my parents. They traveled  from north Louisiana to visit us here in Bentonville and to give us a hand with the unpacking. They were a lot of help. Daddy broke down all of the empty boxes and bagged up all of the paper and then drug it all out to the street to be picked up, and mother helped me inside with putting things away and decorating. It was great to have them here to keep me company too since Fletcher had to leave for the whole week!

On Monday I had the MRI at The Breast Center of Northwest Arkansas in Fayetteville and met Dr. Harms, the Radiologist. The MRI went well, not as bad as I thought it might be thanks to a couple of very caring nurses. Dr. Harms met with me afterward to discuss the results. He said there were no new spots, and the lymph nodes look good. But he thinks the MRI shows that there could be a possibility of some invasion. The diagnosis is still the same: DCIS in the right side only, with possible invasion. They won't know for sure until surgery. Dr. Harms also suggested the genetic testing for BRAC1 and BRAC2. Then, on Tuesday, I met Dr. Cross, the breast oncology surgeon. He was also very nice and spent about an hour with me explaining my options. He suggested that I wait and see about the outcome of the genetic testing before I make a final decision. I agreed, and I don't mind waiting a few weeks. This will give me time to get used to the idea and to get used to living here, and to get unpacked a little more before surgery.

Thanks to my Houston doctors: Dr. Todd Youngblood, a great Family Physician who encouraged me to have the mammogram in the first place, Dr. Rose, an excellent Radiologist at Tops Comprehensive Breast Center in Houston, and Dr. Philip Sutton, the Oncology Breast Surgeon Specialist, for setting up the appointments with the doctors here and for making phone calls on my behalf. I really do appreciate their help because it helped to make the transition from Houston to Fayetteville a little easier. They were able to get me in with the best doctors in this area, and Dr. Harms,a nationally renowned Radiologist, is probably the best in the country, and he knows Dr. Rose since they both worked together in Texas at MD Anderson. And, the icing on the cake is that Dr. Harms and Dr. Cross are both very caring doctors and just regular nice people too. On Thursday, I went to a counseling session for the genetic testing with a nurse at The Breast Center of Northwest Arkansas, and then I went over to the lab at the Diagnostic Clinic across the street to have blood drawn, and to get a baseline chest x-ray for Dr. Cross. I'm beginning to know my way around here, at least to all of the Dr. Offices! Ha!

Fletcher had a good week in Baton Rouge and came home on Friday all excited about getting started with his new position here in Bentonville with Community Coffee.

So far we really like it here, and I hope things continue to go well!
Thanks to all of our friends and family who have been praying for us through all of these changes. We really appreciate it and we are missing our Tomball friends. Thanks for all of the phone calls! We love you all!