Trying not to freak out

Ok, now I am scared...

Today has been a whirlwind of doctor appointments and information dumping.  I got a call from the breast surgeon this morning and the MRI showed the cancer that we knew was there, plus three inflamed nodes.  It doesn't necessarily mean they are cancerous, but they are suspicious.  Luckily, nothing seems to be outside the region of the left breast and the right breast was OK.   I will have a PET scan on Thursday and hopefully those nodes will be benign.  I have a ton of inflammation from the seroma. 

I met with the plastic surgeon and...I don't have enough fat for the DIEP reconstruction I was hoping for.  I should be thrilled that someone told me I don't have enough fat for anything but "A" cups and I've had lots of offers from potential fat donors ;>)   It looks like my reconstruction will be done using tissue expanders. 

After the PS appointment, I went to see the breast surgeon.  She showed me the MRI and we talked about a surgery date.  It will be either next Wednesday, 4/13, or the following Wednesday, 4/20.  During the surgery, a port will be installed for administering chemo.

Then she walked me over to an oncologist who is also a radiation oncologist right there at the hospital.  I was in her office for  2 1/2 hours.  A nurse took my history (please let us have digital medical records soon; I'm so tired of explaining the deaths of my siblings and my dad), took my vitals, weighed me, etc.  After a wait, the oncologist came in.  She already had quite a bit of information and had read the existing pathology reports.  She asked me a lot of questions and answered mine, she spent a lot of time talking about how we would control glucose levels (and really got into the whole diabetes thing).  She tried to reassure me that everything I have done so far to take good care of myself would lead to a better outcome than a diabetic who has not been cautious.  She knew about the metformin trials and felt that it could still be doing its job of fighting the cancer.  She made a point of saying it might be worse if I hadn't been on it.  So she recognized that it has benefit.  She also noted that diabetics on metformin usually have a good pathological response to chemo.

This is the hard part...her chemo protocol is even more aggressive than the other onco's.  She wants me to do 8 rounds of chemo (one every 3 weeks).  She gave me options - 4 rounds before surgery, followed by surgery, followed by 4 more rounds; or do the surgery first, then do the chemo.  She leans toward doing chemo first because, as she said, she's an onco and it tells her if it's working.  But both protocols have the same end results and she understands if I want the cancer removed immediately.  I said that surgery first would provide the pathology so we know what we're dealing with, and she agreed with that. There are the tumor marker tests and PET scans to determine that the chemo is working.   I really don't want this aggressive beast hanging out one minute longer than necessary.

After chemo, there will be radiation, then the implant exchange and hopefully I'll probably have my port removed.

If all goes well, I will be finished with treatment by Christmas.   Tough to swallow. 

Time to arm the battle stations...right after tonight's pity party.

Michelle

SAMayoFL:  Onco is recommending AC+T.  Not sure.  Got some interesting news today - CEA test came back at 0.8.  Normal is below 4.0.  No indication of activity there.  Now I have to question all this.  The PET scan will be the decision-maker, I think.  If by some miracle it comes back clear other than the breast, we will have to re-think all this. 

Surgery is now scheduled for Monday!!!  Found out when the hospital pre-op nurse called and told me.  Communications have been fast and furious, and not all in the right order. 

Whew, what a ride!

Michelle 

Seaside - the surgery is happening regardless of the PET scan.  My only concern is whether or not she should do axillary dissection if the nodes appear clear on the PET.  I'm sure I'll be able to talk to her before surgery.  She should have results, the scan is being done at the hospital.

Michelle

I'm back from the Axillary Node biopsy.  They biopsied just one node and of course, we're hoping for benign results.  It was a little worrisome.  The node kept rolling and the radiologist had a hard time getting the needle into the right spot.  But he was good, and persistent.  Sitting here with an ice pack.  It doesn't hurt yet.  He had to add extra anesthetic to get a tunnel to the node.  So I'm thinking I might not feel it for a little while.

The weight loss fairy has paid me another visit.  Low carb from the day before yesterday, fasting yesterday morning, and just general loss of appetite from stress is taking its toll.  I'll never get DIEP if this continues...lol.

Thanks everyone for hanging in here with me.

Michelle

Seaside - they didn't give me pain meds, but I've got plenty if I need it.  Actually I am currently taking arthritis-strength acetaminophen 3 times a day because I had to go off my anti-inflammatory med for my arthritis.  So, I'm doing OK.  This one didn't hurt nearly as much as the draining that the radiologist did on 3/17. 

 My surgery is scheduled for 1:00.  I am told it will be 3-4 hours, and I'll spend about an hour in recovery.  My daughter is flying in from Mass. on Sunday night, so she'll be here to help for at least a week. 

I called my BS office a couple hours ago, asking about results from the PET scan.  I know the pictures are available because I saw them online at the Breast Center.   But there was not yet any kind of report.  My BS's nurse said that they were trying to get them, and they should have them before the day is over. 

Breathing in, breathing out...

Michelle