re: My wife has breast cancer; prayers and advice appreciated (Update in OP)

I have two daughters and the biggest fear I have - the one thing that can keep me up at night - is the thought of something happening to their mom / my wife.

My thoughts and prayers are with your family. Hopefully they caught it early enough to where her life may forever change, but her life will continue on.

Thank y’all for the prayers, encouragement and advice!

We are thankful that it was caught early and that we have very good insurance. Hope to give you guys a positive update soon

Done, Amen!

Not ever having that condition in my family, I have no advice but prayers were definitely sent.

Prayers bother!!

My mom is in the battle now. She finished chemo and has the surgery to remove both breasts and some lymph nodes. Surgery went well and they said everything is gone. She continues to have targeted infusions (not chemo) every three weeks till the end of the year and will start radiation in the next couple of weeks. Her doctors are very optimistic even though she took 4 months to delay the treatments, because she took the time to go back home to Thailand and try an eastern approach to treatment. The team at Ochsner Main Campus has been great. Dr. Sheen and Dr. Rivere are the best.

My kids are 4 & 6 and dealt with the news well. We told them Ya was sick and she needed our prayers and support. They went to school and asked for prayers for their Ya. They cherish every moment they get to spend with her. Kids can handle more than we think, so just be straight with them. They will appreciate it in the future in case the unimaginable happens.

Good luck and prayers sent y’all’s way.

Prayers for a speedy recovery

Keep pushing!!

Prayers for your family.

As for advice - as someone with bladder cancer, my advice is that ya'll should be as proactive as possible in her care. If something needs to be removed, remove it. Once things go past a certain point, the game changes.

Also, be there and available for her. People are wildly different in how much they want to talk and discuss things, but at some point, most people do want to have frank discussions with loved ones. Emphasize to her that you are there to discuss whatever she wants to and to respect what she doesn't want to talk about yet.

And as others have said, encourage her to do that "just in case" planning. Review and get in order things like wills, insurance details, etc. Some even talk about things like readings at a funeral, pall bearers, etc.

One more thing - when they say "fight" cancer, it is a very literal physical fight. And steps in the treatment can hurt you as much as it hurts the cancer. Be there to help her with physical tasks if the treatment takes a toll.

Prayers to you and your family during this time.