The Captain of My Ship.....

Chris and I saw Dr. G. last night for my treatment plan. We do get a little punchy sitting in waiting rooms together.

At the end of my post op earlier this month with my surgeon, Dr. C., she appointed Dr. G. the new captain of my ship and I'm thankful he is. He has taken and is taking care of people I love.

He was pleased with my Oncotype score and was adamant that chemotherapy would be of no benefit in my situation. That felt great.

He then went on to give us a crash course in some of the current clinicals and so, so many statistics. It was a little mind numbing but the purpose was to show us why my treatment would be as it is.

Dr. G. referred me to a radiologist who will be administering my radiation. He is hopeful I will have a four week long treatment period - once per day each week day for four weeks. Dr. S. will make the final decision. Praying friends, four weeks is my hope!

So now it's time to wait for radiation to get started. I won't see Captain G. for about eight weeks when we'll move onto medication.

And praying friends, some traveling mercies for Chris and he flies to visit his family would be much appreciated.

All my love,
chacha

Oncotype Score!

I've got a quick update and a reason to smile today!

This morning I logged onto to my patient portal to pay a couple of bills and found there was an update to my chart. My Oncotype score is in and it's exactly what I hoped for!

16!!!!

If you clicked into the Oncotype Testing link in my last post you know that this means that chemotherapy is not recommended for a score of 16.

It's a huge relief to know already, as we didn't think we'd have an answer until Wednesday afternoon. That's when we'll meet with my oncologist for his treatment recommendation.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and love.

Post Op with Joe

This week has been so much better than last week. The pain is lessening every day and I'm getting a little bit more energy. I'm still writing thank you cards for all the sweetness bestowed on me this last week and we still have a house full of gorgeous flowers and the most loving cards.

Chris is away on business this week and Joe has been home on spring break babysitting me. I'm so very thankful he's been so willing to hang out and help with dog walks and everything else. He even accompanied me to today's post op appointment after a quick lunch out. He's been absolutely awesome and I'm feeling so blessed.

After my incisions were checked (healing nicely) Joe came in and Dr. C confirmed the good news of the clear margins and a negative lymph node. We discussed that my oncologist, Dr. G had requested that Oncotype testing be done. I'll include this link because it's something I knew nothing about.

ONCOTYPE TESTING

The gist of it is, I want a number of 17 or less. That will mean chemotherapy will not be needed.

Dr. G will give me that number as well as my treatment plan on the 22nd as the test takes about two weeks.  Just as Dr. C had all my confidence for surgery, Dr. G does as well for my treatment. I'm in good hands and that gives me peace.

Waiting? Well that isn't my specialty but the 22nd will be here soon.

Chris, Marc, Marie and Aiden all have a bug. I hate that Chris is sick in a hotel. Praying for all of them and hoping Joe and I evade the germs somehow.

Until the 22nd.....

A shower and clear margins!

Surgery, thankfully, went very well and yesterday was a fairly comfortable, if somewhat fuzzy, day of couch time with Gus. Getting up and moving was difficult but when I was planted on the couch the pain was really manageable.

Today has been a great one so far. I am off pain meds and doing great on ibuprofen only which makes my stomach and head so much happier. A shower this morning pretty much was life changing and putting on real clothes feels so much more normal.

Right after showering I received a call from my surgeon's office with great news - clear margins and a negative lymph node.  Praising God for that!

A visit from dad topped off my morning although Gus kind of hogged him.

Next week I'll see my surgeon and we'll discuss the next step, but for now I'll just enjoy this answered prayer and look forward to seeing Marc, Marie and Aiden in a bit.

I can't begin to express how much all the love and prayers have meant to all of us.

Thank you will never be enough.

Overwhelming Love

Since my last post I have been completely overwhelmed and touched beyond words by the love, prayers, gifts, beach trips, flowers, visits, cards, calls and scriptures that have been bestowed upon me.

Beyond beautiful February weather meant a Saturday at the beach with Marc, Marie and Aiden. They know my happy place and got me there as quickly as they could. And three days ago Gabby, Evan and Olive gave me another perfect beach day with special friends joining us and a precious baby to hold while watching the big kids play. February in North Carolina?? It's good to be ChaCha.

Chris has been such a rock. Always calm, cool and collected even with plumbing and car issues that have popped up these last couple of weeks, he hasn't let anything bother him. Joe, especially has been a kick - we cope with humor and that has helped. The offers of help and texts just to see how we are doing have meant everything.

So the radioactive seeding has been done and I can report that my left breast is not glowing. I'm as ready for surgery as I'm going to be and snacking and drinking water as late as I can because after midnight I'm cut off.

If  you pray, I wouldn't mind some prayers for peace and for my amazing doctors and maybe about that whole no food or coffee thing before surgery.

All my love and thanks to all of you.

Quick update....

The last couple of days have been busy but productive.

Yesterday was the MRI with contrast which I really dreaded since I'm very claustrophobic and had an incredibly uncomfortable experience years ago. This one went so much better than I expected. The ladies who prepped me were gentle and helpful and I had an iv sedative. That made all the difference. I think I slept through the first little bit as when they took the headset off me I had no recollection of them being put on. =D

My surgeon called with the results today and let me know the mri confirmed what we knew and showed no other areas of concern on the other side or lymph nodes (although the sentinel lymph nodes will still be addressed in surgery as is routine).

So we went ahead and scheduled the radioactive seeding (the 27th - so I won't know if I "glow" for a while longer) and the lumpectomy for the 28th.

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This afternoon we met with my oncologist because it's Valentine's after all! We had been told he would likely be running very late but that when we did get to see him he would spend a couple of hours with us and we would have his total focus. He was indeed very late but so worth the wait. We were able to actually view all my films and mri while he walked us through each one. We even learned the name of the person who read my films and found the tiny, hard to find tumor. (Dr. E. R. I can never thank you enough). He carefully explained my situation (as did my surgeon) and covered the post surgery aspects and variables. Like my surgeon, he sent us home with many notes to read through. There is quite a learning curve with all of this but between my doctors and friends who have traveled this path I feel very blessed to have learned so much already and that it is all going as smoothly as it is.

So again I feel very comfortable with this doctor and very thankful to be working with him.

Unless there is a change in scheduling dates I won't update until the 27th.

Thank you all for the messages, calls and prayers.  It means more than you'll ever know.

xok

The Club No One Wants to Join.....

On February 7th I learned I have breast cancer. My radiologist opened with "I have some good news and some bad news...." The good news is that the tumor is small. Just 1.2 centimeters.

It was a relief to learn that I could expect only a lumpectomy, radiation and tamoxifen. While a relief, it was still a shock and it's taken a couple of days to absorb the information, make appointments with all my new doctors and figure an easy for everyone way to keep everyone in the loop. This blog should do it.

This morning we met with my surgeon and was blown away by by how amazing the entire office was, let alone the surgeon herself. We had a thorough explanation of my situation and how to proceed.

Monday we'll do a contrast MRI. Tuesday we meet my oncologist. Shortly after that we'll have a quick visit where I will get a radiation seed implanted which will help guide the surgeon to the lump.  I have been assured my left breast will not glow from said radiation.

I'll let you know for sure in my next post.