You know its serious when....

...you hear "can I get a picture of that" from your doctor.Well if you missed the warning in my last blog be aware that the next few blogs are going to be about cancer. No not my typical blogs but the true reality of cancer including pictures. You see most of the time when we think of cancer we think of something that is virtually unseen. Something that you can sometimes feel and sometimes only detect by machines. Something that doesn't hurt. Then there is IBC. Its a very visible  cancer. Its ugly and its painful and for that reason it typically ends up misdiagnosed and miss treated until it too late. In most cases IBC does not have a lump. Luckily for me it did. Otherwise there is no telling how long it would have been before mine would have been detected. While many friends and family were telling us that things would be ok and that my biopsy would come back fine we knew that wasn't going to be the case. No one really understood why we were so sure but when you see these pictures you will understand. My Port-a-cath was put in on September 14th 2010 which was our Tenth Anniversary. The following day exactly two years ago today these pictures were taken in the doctors office. Shawn and I joked with a nurse that at least no one had taken a picture because thats when you know things are really bad. That very second the radiation doc that we were having a consult with walked in and asked if he could take a picture. We laughed but she cried. Anyway, its weird to be posting these pictures but in the end I think its important for people to realize what IBC is, what it may look like, how serious it is, and how extensive the treatment is. One last thing. Keep in mind I was exactly one month postpartum when these pictures were taken. I say that only because that is my excuse for the fat rolls LOL. Make sure you scroll down and look at both because they loaded funny and are very spread out.