Dr. Hollen

I was so very anxious yesterday, approaching my first visit with my new oncologist.

I had no idea of what to expect, or how long it would take, or what I would learn.

As it turned out, we were there for a couple of hours.

They drew blood, and told me that they will do that every time I have an appointment.  Yippee.  Here goes the pin cushion phase of my life.

The reason the appointment took so long is because the doctor TALKS TO HIS PATIENTS.  He spends however much time is needed by the patient.

And.

He. Is. Wonderful.

He explained everything very clearly, and he gave us very encouraging news indeed.

The samples were tested for various things, and on two out of the three tests, my scores came back favorably.

The hormone receptor test was REALLY good, and the gene test was RIGHT in range (not the same as the genetic testing they are doing with my blood draw from Monday, but a test on a gene in the cancerous tissue).

The only one that didn't look so good was the rate of growth of the bad cells.  It was still BETTER than most people, but it was too high to be considered "good."

SO, all in all, I am in much better shape than I COULD be, which indicates an easier path after the cancer is removed.

Those tests have not yet come in on the newest lesion on the left.  Hopefully, those results will also be favorable.

Next step at his office is the PET scan to check for metatstases.  That's next Friday.

Before then, I will see the surgeon next Tuesday...at last.

Chances are that I will be looking at a double mastectomy.

The mass in the right side is too big, most likely, to consider lumpectomy.  It's not a type of cancer that tends to travel from one side to the other, so if lumpectomy IS considered, there is very little fear of it jumping the gap and showing up later on the other side.

HOWEVER.

The type of cancer in the left breast is currently in situ (specifically tubular globular in situ), which is usually GOOD....but..... it's a kind of cancer that tends to recur, and that tends to travel from one side to the other.

So a lumpectomy on the left may just be a temporary fix, and any part of the right breast that is left after surgery is at risk of developing tubular globular at a later time.

See how that points to a probable double mastectomy?  Yeah. Me too.

I will wait and see what the surgeon says, but the oncologist was pretty clear about it.

Then, looking down the road a little further, after surgery,  the likelihood of me being able to do an ORAL chemo is pretty good.  He bases that on the tests I mentioned above that were done on the samples.

There are DIFFERENT medications available now, so I probably won't have to take tamoxifin, which causes uterine tumors.  The newer medications don't carry that risk.

So, that's the hope.

I have been taken off of the birth control I've been on for the past 7 years or so to control my horrible periods.

What happens as my body balances out and returns to my natural hormones may impact WHICH drug I will be given post surgery.

Dr. Hollen said they are typically only given to post menopausal women, and tamoxafin is given to menstruating women.....but I am 52 years old, and he's pretty sure he can convince the powers that be that I am peri-menopausal-- IF, in fact, my period returns at all.  I am CLEARLY praying that it does not, because the LAST thing I will need to be dealing with during surgical recovery is heavy, painful periods coming back!!!

And finally, whether or not I need radiation treatments after surgery (only on the right) will be determined DURING surgery, and will be based upon what they find in the lymph nodes during the sentinel node procedures.

I told him that I have done EVERYTHING right in my life.....being a health food junkie, into fitness and wellness, being a wellness practitioner to help others find their own good health....

He made it clear that none of this is my fault.  It's nothing I've done to myself.  It's just bad luck.

I felt very peaceful and calm leaving his office last evening.

I was even hungry.  Starving, in fact....because my appetite has been shit from all of the stress.

So we stopped at the grocery store on the way home and got  junk food (why the HELL NOT?) to snack on for our holiday.  Potato chips and french onion dip!  HAH!!! I simply DON'T eat stuff like that 90% of the time!

What a treat.

And we watched "Harvey" with James Stewart, and we stayed up til midnight, and rang in the new year with a split of Veuve Cliquot.

And this morning, we said "Rabbit rabbit rabbit" to one another, and will approach the coming year with a sense of hope.

Together.  Dave has been so wonderful about all of this.

Breathe in.  Breathe out.  Repeat.  Continue.....