It was a long day yesterday. Great to have two of my sisters with me for support. My Seattle sister was with us in spirit. (I'll give you a call today Lisa, hope Kira had fun trick-or-treating.)
We met with the full breast clinic team, the Surgical Oncologist (SO) that I've seen all along, the Medical Oncologist (MO), the Radiation Oncologist (RO), the Nurse Practitioner (NP), and a Psychologist. I've been meeting with the SO all along, but the MO and RO needed to do their own exams and everyone went through my full health history. My sisters loved all the doctors, especially my SO who has squeezed me in to her schedule for surgery on Friday, yes, this is tomorrow. After all the appointments with the surgical staff they had me do blood work, a chest x-ray, and pre-op check-in. It was a very long day but I'm happy that things are moving along. If the surgical appointment hadn't freed up on Friday the SO said that it could have been a months wait. I honestly don't know how I would have survived that. Amazing to think though that I had my first appointment at the Breast Clinic last Wed, diagnosed Thurs, and going in for surgery in just over a week.
It's been decided that the tumor is 1.8 cm in size (good), grade 1 (good), stage 3 (not so good) - edit to say that my wonderful cousin-in-law says that staging is done when the tumor is removed, she thinks this "stage 3" is "Stage 3 DCIS" which I think is correct. I need to refer back to my sister Susan's notes. It is HER2 negative and Hormone receptor positive (both good). The MRI showed that it was only in the one location although we won't know for sure about lymph node involvement until I'm in surgery. They'll do a sentinal node biopsy during surgery, checking the first few lymph nodes which drain from the breast. If those contain cancer cells they'll remove many more and my recovery from surgery will be much more involved.
After surgery they're still saying chemo (3 weeks out) although still not 100% on this. Then after chemo is radiation. I'm happy to do whatever it takes to get rid of the cancer in my body. Bring on the toxins...
I just received an email from my sister Susan with notes from yesterday. She writes so eloquently I'm going to clip some of her information directly below......
Linda and I were so happy we could be there with you yesterday. I was so impressed with all of the people we met with. Everyone really seemed top of their game, I guess that's the benefit of being at a teaching hospital. You definitely remembered the two key terms better than I did (the Estrogen positive and HER2). I hope my notes are a decent reminder of the conversations, I never was a good note taker in school but I did my best.
I thought I would throw out a few more thoughts to keep everyone in the loop on what we discussed yesterday. Linda and I loved the surgeon, a brilliant woman with a great bedside manner. She was a straight talker, really great. And she was able to get Beth in on Friday thankfully because of a cancelled seminar. The whole cancer center team was going in to a long afternoon meeting they have every wednesday to discuss all the new patients and make sure they concur with the course of treatment. It sounded very well thought out, caring, and proactive.
IF the chemo is deemed necessary it would start 3 weeks after the surgery and would happen every 2 weeks after that. The radiation is the final step, I believe, once the chemo is finished. I can't remember how long the chemo takes place, I want to say 6 sessions. Need those notes!
I'm not surprised Beth is tired, this has been such an exhausting process and yesterday was a long day at the hospital. We'll all need to pitch in and figure out when and how we can help and what the best kind of help will be. One homework assignment she was given was to spend 30 minutes EVERY day doing something just for her that she loves and makes her good. Something we should all be doing.
Beth again here. I'll try to list on this blog tonight when surgery is scheduled tomorrow so everyone can send their positive energy. I'm crossing fingers that lymph nodes are NOT involved but if they are we'll deal with it. And, it is getting easier for me to talk about things but I don't want the kids to be living in cancer central so let's talk about other things if you call or stop by. Visit here if you want an update. xox Beth
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
"Hello Beth"---from Pat Zelley.
Have emailed withyour mother - back and forth....and wanted to say how often I think about you and the problems you are going through. As a retired oncology nurse, I have dealt with all you've encountered, and hate to admit that medical mishaps have and will always occur. You have been strong!! Be just as strong advocating for yourself - just what you need and want throughout this struggle. Medical types appreciate patients who participate in their own care by knowing what is required and what this lousy disease is doing. Be brave, determined, and take time for youself. I know you will do well.
Hi Mrs. Z., I'm happy that you've been there for Mom. Great for her to have a friend to discuss all this stuff with. I'm doing so much better now and am hoping to be back to my old self again before the start of Chemo on the 13th. I'd gone to the Onc Chemo space for the first blood transfusion and it's actually quite nice. The nursing staff was wonderful, comfy recliners, plenty of room for guests, privacy curtains, tv sets, etc. And I've read up on so much that I feel like I could diagnose and treat myself so should have plenty of input throughout. Thank you so much for thinking of me. Love to you and Allison as well. Beth
Post a Comment