So Here's the Deal.

I met with my oncologist on Wednesday and he is awesome. He has a ton of energy and a tendency to swear alot, which makes us kindred spirits. I was there for about 4 hours and learned a great deal in addition to a few tests and scheduling for the following days. He wrote out a quick synopsis:

Carrie,

Shit! You have breast cancer.

The good news is that Dr. B removed all the cancer we know about. But cancers are sneaky. Even prior to surgery, cancer can invade the surrounding tissue and spread to spots outside the breast. These cells remain in your body after surgery. If we don't treat these cells, the cancer will grow and "come back." If this happens, cancer is not curable, though quite treatable. My job is to:

1 - Figure out the chance you have of having residual microscopic cancer cells,
2 - Give you treatment to eliminate them, thereby giving you the highest chance of cure possible.

Right now you have a 25-30% chance of cancer still in your body. To kill these residual cells, we have 3 treatments:

1 - Chemotherapy
2 - Endocrine therapy (Tamoxifen, Zoladex)
3 - Immunotherapy (Herceptin)

So, the chemo I will be on is TCH, which is an acronym for the drugs which I will be receiving. I will have 6 treatments, 3 weeks apart for a total of 18 weeks and will continue every three weeks for the rest of the year with the Herceptin. I believe I will start these treatments within the next few weeks and be on my way to being done with all this! It sounds as if I may not get too physically ill, however I will have a numbness in my hands or in general. I guess I'll find out as it happens. I will also lose my hair 14-21 days from my first treatment. Good times.

But on the flip side - the sooner I get this going, the sooner I get all my hair back! AND it might come back thicker and curly or wavy, at least for the first year or so! Interesting.

Thursday I went in for a CAT scan and a MUGA scan to get a baseline for my heart function as the Herceptin is known to have potential heart issues associated with it. I also went to a chemo class that is required for those starting the process. On Monday I have an EKG and a bone scan. Then I meet with my reconstructive surgeon on Thursday for my first fill for my chest expanders (which is going to be interesting because none of my friends or I can are quite sure how they get the saline into that expander - maybe a really small needle? Maybe there's a certain spot that works? Hmmmm...). Friday I meet again with my oncologist.

I think I am going to be very familiar with Abbott Northwestern Hospital soon. I am also pretty sure I'm going to have the track marks of an intravenous drug user by this time next year. ("Which vein should we use today? Ooh - it looks like they just used that one yesterday... Is that the spot where they put your IV? How about this one... no... Here! Right on the side of your hand - see that one? THAT's the one we'll use today...")

On another note - my chest is healing very well - my range of motion gets better each day. I am slowly stretching out and tapping into my past year of yoga to work with my muscles. I am putting the most time into my posture as my post-surgery posture is to hold my shoulders forward and hold my arms out a bit from my body. I consciously pull my shoulders back and move my arms at my side in a more fluid motion. So far, so good. I'm curious about how the expander fill will feel.

I hope all is well with everyone - talk to you soon!

Carrie