The Only One

I am completely overwhelmed by the outpouring of support we've received from all of you! I can't begin to tell you how much it means to my family and me. Thank you so much for being here during this completely unexpected, and unwanted, journey.

In real life, I'm a numbers girl. I'm much more comfortable with numbers than with words. In high school, I used to create algebra problems to help me sleep. In my defense, I was also a cheerleader, so I wasn't the kid eating glue in the back of class. I just like numbers. It helps me to be able to break something down to the lowest common denominator. When dealing with cancer, it's impossible not to come across many statistics. I found them fascinating, particularly since my cancer's so rare, that I had to share them here.

1. There are 2 different groups of sarcomas: soft-tissue sarcomas, and bone cancer.
2. Within these 2 groups, there are about a dozen different types of sarcomas.
3. All sarcomas combined only make up about 1% of all cancers.
4. Only about 11,000 people will be diagnosed with sarcoma this year.
5. Of those 11,000, about 7,800 will have a type of soft-tissue sarcoma (what mine falls under).
6. Of those 7,800, a whopping ONE percent will be my sarcoma: dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP)
7. That means approximately 78 people will develop DFSP this year!
8. Of the approx. 78 new cases of DFSP this year, 43% will be women (34).
9. Of the 78, it will develop somewhere on the trunk in 50% of them.
10. That means of the 34 women who will get DFSP this year, it will arise in the trunks of 17 of us.
11. Of this 50%, it will mostly appear on the back or adomen. Sadly, I couldn't find a percentage for this one.

Basically, that means I may be the only person in this country to get dermatofibrosarcoma on my boob this year. Ok, there may be a handful of us, but I'm sure my odds of winning the lottery would've been greater. I think it's time to go buy a ticket!