I'm feeling a little overloaded. I've met with 4 different people in two days and have been told so much information so many times. I suppose it's good to have it repeated so much- what do they say? You don't really learn something until you've heard it at least three times?? At least, that's what I tell my students. That way they don't know if I'm just forgetful or purposefully reiterating something! :) Anyway- here is what I've learned over the last couple of days.
First- I have an invasive mammary carcinoma that favors ductal. This means it is located kind of between the lobules and the ducts. Invasive just means that it has moved out of the ducts and into surrounding breast tissue. It does not mean it has metastasized. It is estrogen and progesterone positive, which is a good thing. That means that at the end of all other treatments, I will take tamoxifen for 10 years. It is HER2/neu negative, which is also good. That means it is more treatable. So- three good things. There are, of course, a couple of weird things, too. I can't do anything straightfoward. :) There are a couple numbers I don't fully understand that are wonky. One of them is indicating that it is a relatively aggressive cancer. These numbers come into play a little later.
Treatment: I will be having a lumpectomy next Thursday, May 29th. I have to be at the Surgery Center at 6am. :) They will start with a sentinel node test, which will allow my surgeon, Dr. Nowell, to locate the sentinel (or first) lymph node. They will inject a dye that need a couple of hours to move through the tissue. She will first remove this node and send it straight to pathology for testing. If there is cancer in the node, I will definitely have to have chemotherapy. If there is no cancer in the node, I might have to have chemo. After the node test, she will remove the lump and stitch me back up. The whole process from sentinel test through surgery will probably be 6-7 hours. I'll get to go home that day. I'll be sore for a few days, but I should be up and around pretty quickly. But I won't be able to lift heavy things or vacuum for a week or so. Darn it all! :)
After the surgery, pathology will really look hard at the tumor to see if they can figure out the weird stuff. If they decide it's weird enough, I will probably have to do chemotherapy, even if the nodes are not involved. If they decide it's ok, I'll wait 3-4 weeks and then start radiation therapy. Radiation will be 5 days a week for 6 weeks. Radiation will definitely happen. If chemo happens, they will do that first, and then radiation after that. So, treatment is still up in the air until after surgery.
Today at my appointments, I was given my own purple bag and tons of resources, including a cute pair of socks. :) There have to be a couple perks of cancer, I guess. I also have access to my very own exercise guru and a dietitian. I can take pilates with cardio, zumba, yoga, or tai chi classes for free. All of these services continue for many years. I have a social worker, a coordinator, several doctors and all the diet and exercise people on my team. They do an excellent job of anticipating needs and working to meet them.
Tonight we will tell the boys everything. I wanted to wait to get all the information before we scared them with the 'C' word.
The next step is just to be rested and ready for surgery next Thursday. Go, Team Robin!
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