What?? I mean What??

OK...so...we're back from the breast cancer team meeting. As you may remember, my biggest concern was around the staging of the cancer. We had felt that it would be Stage One or if the tumor was bigger than 2 cm then it would be stage two (as long as the lymph nodes were clear). Well, according to the pathologist, the cancer measured 8.5cm...clearly a shock to us all - including Dr. Simmons who said that she promptly called the pathologist and asked that the "typo" be changed. She said that he called her back within minutes and said, "I don't make typos." I said, "My whole breast does not measure 8.5cm..." Anyway, in that moment, I went from joking about wearing too much pink, and learning to feel what it's like to be a person with cancer (cancer patient?), to "Yikes, I am in a real fight for my life." (No melodrama intended) This puts the staging of the cancer at a Stage 3...

There are some positives though, we found it and I had a mastectomy - I owe my life to Dr. Canavan's persistence in the face of negative studies, the sentinal node and the lymph nodes are clear - BIG Plus, and there are one or two others that have to do with hormones, etc. that don't mean alot to the average person without detailed explanations.

So, here is what I know. Dr. Julia Kennedy will be my medical oncologist. She saw me as a second opinion for the fake lymphoma two summers ago and has the results to my PET Scan, etc. from that time that were all negative. Some of you may remember that I even had a bone marrow biopsy at that time. I really like and trust her. I really like and trust the whole team. She will be arranging some tests for me (CT/PET scan, mugascan) and I will have a port put in so that I won't have to be stuck a million times for bloodwork and chemo. I'll start chemo in mid- October. Dr. Kennedy said she'll give me the details when I see her in her office but I will be getting a combination of Toxotere, Adriamycin, and Cytoxin every 3 weeks or so for a period of 20-24 weeks (5-6 months (!) those of you who are doing the math) This will be followed by tamoxifen and then femara.

Then I saw Dr. Eric Gressen who is my radiation oncologist. His sense of humor is a good match for mine. Once the chemo is over, I'll have 5 weeks of daily radiation. Then, if Dr. Simmons has had her baby by that time...(actually, she is scheduled for a section tomorrow at 10am, so please keep her in your prayers), then I will have another mastectomy with simultaneous reconstruction of both breasts. Dr. Simmons said (and we all agree) that she would never feel comfortable telling me that everything was okay with the left breast considering how many curves were thrown our way with the other one. Also, most of the people in my family who have had breast cancer (and there are many) have been diagnosed with cancer in both breasts at some point so this makes sense to me. She said that if all things go in our favor I should be stepping back into the world treatment free (except for tamoxifen,etc) by this time next year. Then I got rid of one drain and kept the other till probably next week.

Hmmm...This is a lot of information for you and for me...so I think I need to take a breath and regroup a bit. I am grateful for all the positives, I am grateful for all of you, and I am grateful for my sense of humor that still seems to be intact - I'll need all of these and more before this journey begins to wind down. I need to keep writing and I need you to keep reading. Other than that, your prayers and good wishes are always welcome. Thanks for listening...