A good appt. with Dr. B

Today I had a good visit with Dr. B. and I finally feel like I really understand more about my pathology. He was running late when he came in and didn't mind at all when I told him I had 3 PAGES OF QUESTIONS!!! We talked a lot about why the ER/PR numbers were different when run by the company that did the Oncotype test. He spent a great deal of time going thru all the details of the tests and it finally came down to me trying to compare the two when I should not have been...kind of like comparing apples and oranges..the bottom line is that both show ER/PR+ for the tumor and that means that I should take the tamoxifen for five years to improve my chances of remaining cancer free. He gave me the script for the tamox and I will also do a bone density test at the hospital so we have a baseline report...some of these therapies can cause osteoperosis so we will need to monitor that over the next few years. I told him again how I was worried about my Oncotype test score being so high and he told me that approx. 20% of the tests come back in the high category....I had a lot of questions about the way they "graph" their results of risk of recurrence so he pulled out my test and answered all my questions....I finally felt like after six months the confusion was going away!

My MUGA (heart function test) results were back and they actually improved a few points from the last test taken 3 months ago...we talked about if I should continue the Herceptin for the remainder of the 12 months and he agreed that as long as my heart function does not drop we will stay with the standard course of treatment which is 12 months...that was a huge relief...I know there is new data out there showing that 3 months has been effective but when I reviewed those trials I was just not comfortable with the number of patients that participated in the trials or the number of years of follow up...I guess I will let other women be the "test patients" for the shorter course of treatment...

My infusion went fine...I asked him if we could do one benadryl instead of two before the infusion and he said we could try it. I didn't have any adverse reactions and it didn't make me so tired.

I just feel very fortunate to have a doctor that will take so much time with me to keep going over and over some of these things...all this stuff is so very complicated but Dr. B. has a good way of bringing the info down to my level...I felt like today I finally asked the right questions so he could give me the info I was looking for. I do have a unique case when it comes to my pathology and I was trying too hard to make it match up with the "general population" of BC patients and that just can't happen but honestly I am ok with that now. It just feels good to have those nagging worries/questions that were always in the back of my mind cleared up...as we finished up he said again that he really believes that we caught the cancer early and we were aggressive with the treatment because the tests did show that is was an aggressive form and that my chances of EVER having to deal with this again are VERY SMALL! He finished up by saying I better not prove him wrong..."DAMMIT"!! Trust me...I am going to do my best not to prove him wrong!

My antibiotics have finally started helping with the sinus infection..I guess this is one of the worst pollen seasons ever in Cinci so everyone is having problems. I haven't had the energy to walk since Sunday morning but I think I will be able to get back out tomorrow..it is supposed to be warm and sunny. I only had to take a 2 hour nap after treatment this time...got up in time to see Jillian accidentally tear a hole in the arm of my new chair in the living room as she closed the door on the cabinet...UGH!!!