Wednesay Appointments..

My afternoon of appointments certainly had it's ups and downs. Our first appt. was with the oncologist and that went very well. The doctor had a very good bed side manner (actually talked to us while letting me wear my clothes instead of a paper gown) and everyone in the office went out of their way to be helpful and pleasant. We recorded our entire conversation and he was very good about explaining what type of cancer that I have and he presented my options. The easiest route would be several weeks of radiation five days a week. He explained that these are very quick appts, I guess it actually takes longer to get undressed and re-dressed than it does to get "zapped"...after I complete the radiation I would take the drug Tamoxifen for 5 years and if I stay cancer free that would be it....The most agressive plan would be a bilateral masectomy and reconstruction. This improves my chances of reoccurence in my breasts by a few percentage points but it also eliminates the worry of breast cancer reoccurence. I would also take Tamoxifen with this plan to fight off any dormant cancer cells that may exist anywhere else in my body that are driven by estrogen. He feels that I have a very good chance of beating this, it really just depends on how much worry I can handle after the treatment......you all know how good I am at worrying!!!! He thought it was great that we were getting a second opinion and he did go ahead and order a genetic screening for the tissue that was removed during surgery. This is a new study going on across the nation that tries to factor reoccurence based on a select group of genes. He also ordered a breast MRI so that we can look closer at both breasts and the pre-cancerous calcifications that the surgeon mentioned. The Oncologist suggested that I make an appt. with the plastic surgeon that specializes in breast reconstruction so I can better understand the different procedures that are available.

From that appointment we went straight over to see the Gyn. She and I spoke earlier in the week and she wanted me to stop taking Proverra immediately because my type of cancer is fed by estrogen and she wanted to do an exam since I have had unusual spotting for the last several weeks. Once we reviewed what had been going on she decided that she wanted to do a biopsy of my uterus.....kind of a painful procedure that causes a lot of cramping afterward. I asked her is she was looking for cancer and her answer was "not necessarily".....I thought - my God, how much more of this can I take!!!!! We also talked about a couple surgery options if we can't control the bleeding but I think we can hold off on that for a while so we can deal with everything else. She ordered an ultrasound which will be done on Friday and we should have the biopsy results also on Friday.

Needless to say, I got in the car for the drive home and felt completely overwhelmed and exhausted. As soon as we got home I ate a big, fat chunk of Maggiano's Choclolate Creme cake, put on my PJs and retreated to my comfy bed. I was D-O-N-E for the day.

Please pray with us that all these tests come back with good results........

Here's a quote I liked (and need to learn to live by)...hope you like it.

Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles----it empties today of its strength.
Author Unknown