Isn't it cute? She told me that since I was going to be a pincushion soon that I should have it. And I laughed at the time but man, she wasn't kidding!
Today I met my Oncologist. Her name is Karen Holzer. An oncologist is someone who takes care of you after your surgery and sets up all the chemo/radiation/hormone therapy. She was a pretty nice lady. Unfortunately, she didn't help me make my choice. Well, she did help rule out one of them. She said not to do the biopsy and then a "blind" lumpectomy. She said it would be better to do chemo/radiation first, shrinking the tumor and then having the lumpectomy. Otherwise she said to get the mastectomy. She suggested I have genetic testing that Julie mentioned in her comment, so they took blood for that and some other tests. On Tuesday I'll have an echocardiogram to test the strength of my heart since I have a heart murmur. At some point next week I'll also have a CAT scan and a bone scan to double check that the cancer isn't anywhere else. Yup, pretty soon I think I'm going to resemble a larger version of that tiny plant that ma got me.
If the genetic testing shows that I have a mutant gene that caused the cancer, then it's likely that it will show up in the other breast at a later date and that's what Julie meant when she said I would have a double mastectomy. It's basically a preventative measure. So we're going to wait for all the test results (hopefully I'll know something by the end of next week) and then make the decision about the surgery.
At this point, I'm thinking Jim may just make it back for the big day afterall.
She was nice enough to make copies of my report for me and put it all in a binder for me to take home. She also gave me a book called "Be a Survivor; Your Guide to Breast Cancer Treatment." It has lovely graphic images in there of breast reconstruction. Thanks Doc. ;)
I was two hours in the oncologist office and by the time I left, I decided to go through the McDonald's drive-thru for lunch. Instead of handing her my credit card, I handed her my insurance card by accident. Yes, I'm serious.
5 comments:
Karen was one of the Dr. that came highly recommended by my aunt. I just forgot to put her on that email.
LOL at insurance card at McDonalds!
Yeah McDonalds girl said, "That would be cool if they paid for food too." ha ha
Glad to hear that you ruled out having another biopsy. The thought of having to get inside that MRI again or even a blind biopsy lying on your stomach when the outcome would not reveal much or change the fact that surgery is eminent just doesn't sound fun at all.
The oncologist usually won't tell you what you should do. They are there to lay out the options in an effort for you to make an informed decision. It would be nice if they just said you are doing this and that's that.
Definitely wait for the genetic screen to come back from Myriad to make your final decision about which route to take. Can you tell me which drugs the oncologist recommended for you? I'm asking because the side effects are quite different for each of the medications. Now, say the genetic test results come back negative and you do not carry a mutation, then you could have chemo first, then surgery on a smaller tumor, and keep the breast intact. If the test comes back positive, I would recommend at least a single mastectomy but consider a double, because I would hate to have to go through all this again in the future. I still lean towards surgery first but mainly because I feel that the fewer cancer cells that remain in my body the greater effect the drug will have on the tumor cells. I just feel that the larger the tumor the more drug it will take to cause the tumor to shrink and then the sicker you will feel. Anyways, I look forward to hearing about the results and what you decide to do about the procedure.
She hasn't told me what drugs I'll be taking yet, Julie. She did, however, mention that I'd be eligible for a clinical study testing out a new drug that starts out with "Benz..." something. I asked her if it would be physically beneficial or harmful and she basically said it couldn't hurt, I'd have an extra nurse to check up on my side effects, and it would help future cancer patients. I didn't know what to think about that.
So when it comes to clinical studies, it is beneficial to both you and the future cancer patients....IF IT WORKS. If the treatment is not successful then it is of no use. When you weigh the options make sure there is a back-up plan of medications should you choose this route. Also, just because you are entered in this study does NOT mean that you are given the experimental drug. You could be placed in the group that gets the standard drugs that you would normally be taking if you were not in the study. So you need to find out all of the ARMS of the study....meaning all of the possible treatments you could be placed in. I am not against the study as long as you are receiving treatment medications.
I'm not sure about the drug you mentioned, it could be Benzodiazepine or a derivitive that acts on this receptor. They will know better what medications to give you once the tumor is removed and all the molecular staining is performed. They will want to know if the tumor is responsive to hormones (ER+, PR+) or not and how extensive the disease is. Once you know the results of the genetic tests let us all know what you decide. Keep us updated.
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