The Stage

It's been a LONG week, and I can barely believe that I only learned about having breast cancer 7 days ago.  Since then, I've met with my surgeon, my oncologist, my surgeon again, had a CT scan/bone scan/brain scan, had a follow-up appointment with my oncologist, and saw a cardiologist.  I'm exhausted, and I haven't even had my port surgery!

We do have some results:

Dr. Naqvi came in and greeted me with, "we have good news!"  All of my scans came back clear.  That means that there are no masses throughout the rest of my body larger than 1mm, other than the breast tumor we already knew about and one small mass on the lymph nodes.

I also have my pathology results:

I'm ER +, PR -, and Her2 +

It's not the best, but it's not the worst.  Dr. Naqvi actually was guessing that I was triple positive, and was not surprised at all with the Her2 results.  She would rather it not be, but she wasn't surprised because of all the factors with my case.

This means I'll start Herceptin along with Paclitaxel every week for 12 weeks.  I was most shocked about being told to plan for FOUR HOURS to sit in that chair, hooked up to these drugs.  Hopefully it won't be that long everytime!  That's a lot of manpower for watching my babies.  So, my hair will thin and some will fall out, but it won't be so dramatic for the first 3 months.  {I have more time to get some pretty scarfs and find the perfect wig!}

After that, we'll wait about 10 days to let my body rest.  This actually works perfectly with a Disney cruise we had planned before learning about "the cancer," and I was SO happy to hear Dr. Naqvi give her consent for us to still go along with our plans!

Then, will come the FEC.  That's the "bad" chemo.  I'll do that every 3 weeks X 4. 

By then, we'll know which surgery will be needed.  The BRCA results take another 2 weeks, or so.  I could have just a lumpectomy along with radiation, a single mastectomy, or a double mastectomy.  That remains to be seen.  No matter which surgery I need, I'll have it after the second part of the chemo.

Then, it will be hormone therapy to deal with the ER + part of my tumor and radiation therapy if I only have a lumpectomy. 

During this time, I'll be going back to the Herceptin and will take that for a total of one year.   The tricky thing about Herceptin is that it can cause cardiomyopathy--{you might remember that the character of Hillary in Beaches develops viral cardiomyopathy.  That's where I first remember hearing about it.}  I don't want to develop any kind of cardiomyopathy, even though this Herceptin induced version is predictable and reversible.  If I start to develop it, they simply back off the Herceptin and allow my heart to heal for a bit before starting the process again.  Because of this, my heart does have to be monitored closely while on Herceptin.  I had to see a cardiologist today to have a baseline echocardiogram.  {For the medical people out there, my BP was 100/70 and my EF was 58%, which I'm told is "practically perfect."  The doctor also said my heart sounded "perfect," so no worries there.}  My cardiologist was actually more fascinated with my story and how he's seeing more and more young women with breast cancer.  He wanted to know how I discovered it, and noticed my hands, and began to ask questions about any possible connections on a genetic level.  It was fun getting to witness the inquisitive mind of a doctor who is obviously still highly intrigued by the discovery in medicine.  I loved how he told Stephen, "Don't be embarrassed, but did you find the tumor during "the sex?"  FUNNY STUFF, people!  He also talked about how "everybody is going to get something--heart disease, diabetes, some form of cancer, what have you.  If God is going to give a choice in the kind of cancer I got, I'd choose prostate.  And if I was a woman, I'd choose breast cancer."  I liked him a lot, which is good.  I have to have an echo once every 2 months for the entire year. 

So, I'm off to bed soon to get ready for my port surgery tomorrow morning. 

Chemo starts on Wednesday.

Let's pray that I DO NOT fall into that 10% of people who just don't respond well to chemo.  My chances are actually pretty great on this one.  But, prayers never hurt.

P.S.  Nothing like blowing through our entire flex spending account in 5 business days!