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Friday, December 19, 2008

The Oophda Party

Lorna and her two sisters met Tuesday in Rochester at the Mayo Clinic for a girl's get together. The three of them have had breast cancer issues, plus the loss of the generation of the women that preceded them to breast cancer. Because of the wonderful advancements in genetics they were able to determine that they were all carrying the BRC2 genetic marker for breast cancer and ovarian cancer. While the breasts are no longer an issue, a 3 to 4 times normal risk of ovarian cancer, a real killer, still existed. A month ago they had all shared an appointment with the surgeon for physicals and were all scheduled for their oophorectomies on the same day with adjoining rooms. Lorna was first in line and came out of it in amazing fashion. Her conditioning and yoga probably paid off - not even any painkiller! Her sisters were a little slower recovering, so it was late in the day before we, the men in waiting, were able to get them over to sister Linda's house, who just happens to live in Rochester.
For two days they curled up in warm blankets, talking and watching chick flicks, tended by the next generation, Addy and Sarah, who is a brand new RN. Thursday afternoon I went back over and picked up Lorna and brought her home. This will be henceforth known in family lore as the oophda party.

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