I had thought to try to give the blow-by-blow of everything that has happened since the post I drafted on 6/9. However, there was a lot of meetings amongst the doctors, then the doctors and me, and a lot of back and forth in between. It would have gotten confusing in a hurry. So, I'm gonna lay it out as simply as I can.
I did receive the results back on the OncoTypeDX test. I scored low, which is favorable and basically amounted to a possible 10% chance of recurrence without chemo, 5% with chemo. We were seriously considering skipping chemo with those kinds of odds in our favor. However, as I mentioned before, the cancer had been trying to spread. Even though the tumors hadn't escaped the confines of my breast area, there was a chance that maybe some cells had and that they could possibly a different genetic type than was detected by the test.
Aaron & I talked about it and I decided to take the chemo anyway, as a safety precaution. I would SO kick myself a couple years down the line if another tumor cropped up and I hadn't done anything to safeguard, ya know? So we talked to the kiddos about it and they're onboard. I had a dual medport inserted in my chest to allow the medicine to be administered more easily. I had my friend, Tiff, give me a pixie cut so that all the kids we are usually around will have a chance to adjust before I lose my hair.
Last weekend was my town's Relay for Life. The karate school's demo team got to perform for the walkers. I was asked to break a board at the end of the performance and the whole gang gave me a group hug once I did! To say that I felt loved would be a total understatement!
The next morning was the Survivors ceremony and breakfast. We released butterflies, although I think the little buggers wanted come home with us instead. :-D Each of the survivors came up and told their name, type of cancer, and how long they had survived it. (I just hope I didn't sound like a total dweeb!) Then we walked a lap around the park together. It was all very emotional.
This past Monday, I had my first treatment. The schedule is a pretty basic one. Over the next two months, I have four treatments of two medicines (Adriamycin & Cytoxan) in two week increments. During the three months following, I have twelve weekly treatments with a single medicine (Taxol). After that comes radiation for 6 weeks, 5 days a week. At least I get the weekends off. :-P
So, I go into the treatment center with my bag full of goodies, reading material, a blanket, & my knitting. My attendant, Rob, was very nice and explained everything that was going to happen. They drew some blood from my port for testing, flushed it out with saline, gave me some more anti-nausea meds (on top of what I'd already taken). Then came the mojo juice. One was clear and didn't look like much of anything, but the other Looked like strawberry jam in a packet. I didn't feel anything different as it went in, but I gotta say watch that next bathroom trip afterwards! I had to call poor Rob over to make sure something wasn't wrong with me.... I don't have that equipment anymore! Turns out that there's a lot of dye in that strawberry jam!
The next day, Pop took me shopping to get my mind off of things. I felt bad... I ran the poor man ragged! But we did have fun with the kiddos.
Yesterday and today, the side effects kicked in and I had forgotten that I was supposed to get a neulasta injection the previous day to boost my blood cell counts. I'll just keep it short to say that it's been a pretty miserable couple of days. I'm on enough medicine right now that I didn't get sick. It didn't stop my tummy from getting upset or my muscles & bones from getting achy though. My kiddos were total troopers yesterday (they didn't want to leave me) and they went to a friend's house today (Thank you, Carmen!!!)
So with this updated report, I'll just say that we're down one bad-juju treatment with 3 to go. The rest will come in time and I'm gonna go get some rest now. Love to all!!!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Thursday, June 9, 2011
Post-dated post. See next post for explanation.
6/9/11
I had my post-op appointment with Dr. Gold & Dr. Naill last Wednesday, June 1st.
At Dr. Gold's, we discussed my "surgical pathology" or the details of the tissue that was removed. Turns out that I was a little off the mark on how many lymph nodes were taken. It was 4 nodes on the right-hand side and 6 on the left. Still, to only have a spot on one of the 10 is even better! The tumor itself was 4cm (1.5 inches), about twice as big as we had originally thought.
It seems I wasn't far off calling it my zombie boob either. There was a mass of tissue surrounding the tumor. Reading the report, it doesn't state the exact size but suggests that it was "comedonecrotic". To break it down based on what I've read, it means that the cancer cells travelled into some of the ducts and glands, became blood-starved, and died taking some of the other tissue with it. However, it didn't manage to get past my breast tissue (except for that one lymph node spot). Thank goodness!!! I'm just glad it's gone.
Dr. Gold mentioned that there was going to be a meeting between all of my docs the following Wednesday (6/8) to discuss our next steps and to nail down our treatment options. She thought there might be a chance that we might have to take more lymph nodes from the left armpit to make doubly sure there wasn't more cancer spots in there. She ordered up an OncoTypeDX* test on the removed tissue, but didn't expect the results for a couple of weeks. I'll talk more about this in a bit.
After having some lunch, we went to Dr. Naill's office. Our visit there was pretty short. He said that based on the size of the tumor and the fact that there was only one spot on one node, he didn't think that radiation would be necessary in my case. He also said that he would have to wait until after the Wednesday meeting to make sure it jived with what the rest of the team thought. Aaron & I were both really pleased with this. One treatment worry off the table! Did I say pleased? I meant ecstatic! Yay!!!!!!
We had a little scare over the weekend where someone didn't call in my painkiller prescription or it got lost along the way. In any case, I ran out and had no refills left! Because it was the weekend, I was unable to get ahold of someone to send out a new one. I've cut way back on all of my meds, but I still have to be able to sleep without pain so that I heal well. All I got to say is thank goodness for great friends. They have their own injuries but were willing to offer some of their meds (same as mine) to get me through. I am so blessed!
* OncoTypeDX- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncotype_DX
I had my post-op appointment with Dr. Gold & Dr. Naill last Wednesday, June 1st.
At Dr. Gold's, we discussed my "surgical pathology" or the details of the tissue that was removed. Turns out that I was a little off the mark on how many lymph nodes were taken. It was 4 nodes on the right-hand side and 6 on the left. Still, to only have a spot on one of the 10 is even better! The tumor itself was 4cm (1.5 inches), about twice as big as we had originally thought.
It seems I wasn't far off calling it my zombie boob either. There was a mass of tissue surrounding the tumor. Reading the report, it doesn't state the exact size but suggests that it was "comedonecrotic". To break it down based on what I've read, it means that the cancer cells travelled into some of the ducts and glands, became blood-starved, and died taking some of the other tissue with it. However, it didn't manage to get past my breast tissue (except for that one lymph node spot). Thank goodness!!! I'm just glad it's gone.
Dr. Gold mentioned that there was going to be a meeting between all of my docs the following Wednesday (6/8) to discuss our next steps and to nail down our treatment options. She thought there might be a chance that we might have to take more lymph nodes from the left armpit to make doubly sure there wasn't more cancer spots in there. She ordered up an OncoTypeDX* test on the removed tissue, but didn't expect the results for a couple of weeks. I'll talk more about this in a bit.
After having some lunch, we went to Dr. Naill's office. Our visit there was pretty short. He said that based on the size of the tumor and the fact that there was only one spot on one node, he didn't think that radiation would be necessary in my case. He also said that he would have to wait until after the Wednesday meeting to make sure it jived with what the rest of the team thought. Aaron & I were both really pleased with this. One treatment worry off the table! Did I say pleased? I meant ecstatic! Yay!!!!!!
We had a little scare over the weekend where someone didn't call in my painkiller prescription or it got lost along the way. In any case, I ran out and had no refills left! Because it was the weekend, I was unable to get ahold of someone to send out a new one. I've cut way back on all of my meds, but I still have to be able to sleep without pain so that I heal well. All I got to say is thank goodness for great friends. They have their own injuries but were willing to offer some of their meds (same as mine) to get me through. I am so blessed!
* OncoTypeDX- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncotype_DX
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
5-31-11
I never realize just how busy life is until I sit down to write an entry here!
I called Dr. Gold's office because I started experiencing pain down the back of my left arm. I'm pretty sure it's nerves trying to knit themselves back together after the surgery, but I wanted to make sure that I treated it right over the holiday weekend. Turns out that Dr. Gold was already on her way to her vacation destination, but Barb from the office said I was on the right track and called in a prescription for Neurontin* for me.
She said that the main reason she was calling was that she had the results back from the surgery. Turns out that my tumor was approximately 4 cm in diameter, about twice as big as originally anticipated. The good news though is that my margins came back negative, which means that it hasn't moved beyond the breast area. The area they thought they saw on the right breast from the MRI turned out to be negative for cancer as well as a lymph node taken and tested from that side (WHEW!). They also took four lymph nodes from the left side and only one of those four showed the teeniest, tiniest speck of suspected cancer. This means that it's more likely that I will have to have treatment.
I just happened to come across a PBS program called "Second Opinion" that really seemed to pertain to my situation, so I recorded it on TiVo and watched it with Aaron yesterday. Wow, what a ton of really great information about Cancer post-op and post- treatment side effects in that show! I really *heart* PBS! This program in particular discussed axillary neuropathy** (numbness or shooting pain in the shoulder and arm) which I seem to be suffering because of the lymph node removal, but can also be caused by some chemotherapies. It also talked about the fuzziness and absent-mindedness that some patients experience called "chemo brain". Both are definitely worth discussing with my docs.
I have an appointment with Dr. Gold and Dr. Naill (radiation) tomorrow, to go over all this again and to begin discussing our options. My appointment with Dr. Eilender (chemo) will be in the next week or so. When I spoke with Dr. Eilender the last time, he mentioned the possibility of a bi-weekly, 8 treatment course if I had the right kind of cancer. Sounds right up my alley! Heck... I don't even think my hair will have the chance to fall out if it's that quick! Hehehehehe....
Anyway, I also had a couple of appointments with Dr. Pummill. The most recent was this morning where I had my last drain tube removed. Ah! Sweet relief!!!! Dr. P said that I'm healing up beautifully, that she wants to see me in a couple weeks, and that we might even get to start bumping out my expanders. Yee-HAW!!!!
I'm not letting this slow me down... At least not too much. :-D I've been out to dinner, a couple of movies, a couple of parties, & I got to hang out by the pool at a friend's Memorial Day get together. I decided today that I needed to get off my duff and start getting some exercise in, so I rode my recumbent bike for 15 minutes this afternoon (at a leisurely pace, of course) and did some gentle arm exercises just to get the blood flowing in the right direction. Watch out world.... Next up, I'm going for my black belt!
* Neurontin - http://www.rxlist.com/neurontin-drug-center.htm
** Axillary Neuropathy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000689.htm
I never realize just how busy life is until I sit down to write an entry here!
I called Dr. Gold's office because I started experiencing pain down the back of my left arm. I'm pretty sure it's nerves trying to knit themselves back together after the surgery, but I wanted to make sure that I treated it right over the holiday weekend. Turns out that Dr. Gold was already on her way to her vacation destination, but Barb from the office said I was on the right track and called in a prescription for Neurontin* for me.
She said that the main reason she was calling was that she had the results back from the surgery. Turns out that my tumor was approximately 4 cm in diameter, about twice as big as originally anticipated. The good news though is that my margins came back negative, which means that it hasn't moved beyond the breast area. The area they thought they saw on the right breast from the MRI turned out to be negative for cancer as well as a lymph node taken and tested from that side (WHEW!). They also took four lymph nodes from the left side and only one of those four showed the teeniest, tiniest speck of suspected cancer. This means that it's more likely that I will have to have treatment.
I just happened to come across a PBS program called "Second Opinion" that really seemed to pertain to my situation, so I recorded it on TiVo and watched it with Aaron yesterday. Wow, what a ton of really great information about Cancer post-op and post- treatment side effects in that show! I really *heart* PBS! This program in particular discussed axillary neuropathy** (numbness or shooting pain in the shoulder and arm) which I seem to be suffering because of the lymph node removal, but can also be caused by some chemotherapies. It also talked about the fuzziness and absent-mindedness that some patients experience called "chemo brain". Both are definitely worth discussing with my docs.
I have an appointment with Dr. Gold and Dr. Naill (radiation) tomorrow, to go over all this again and to begin discussing our options. My appointment with Dr. Eilender (chemo) will be in the next week or so. When I spoke with Dr. Eilender the last time, he mentioned the possibility of a bi-weekly, 8 treatment course if I had the right kind of cancer. Sounds right up my alley! Heck... I don't even think my hair will have the chance to fall out if it's that quick! Hehehehehe....
Anyway, I also had a couple of appointments with Dr. Pummill. The most recent was this morning where I had my last drain tube removed. Ah! Sweet relief!!!! Dr. P said that I'm healing up beautifully, that she wants to see me in a couple weeks, and that we might even get to start bumping out my expanders. Yee-HAW!!!!
I'm not letting this slow me down... At least not too much. :-D I've been out to dinner, a couple of movies, a couple of parties, & I got to hang out by the pool at a friend's Memorial Day get together. I decided today that I needed to get off my duff and start getting some exercise in, so I rode my recumbent bike for 15 minutes this afternoon (at a leisurely pace, of course) and did some gentle arm exercises just to get the blood flowing in the right direction. Watch out world.... Next up, I'm going for my black belt!
* Neurontin - http://www.rxlist.com/neurontin-drug-center.htm
** Axillary Neuropathy - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000689.htm
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