Moving website

We decided to move the blog over to Caringbridge. This will allow you to signup and receive emails when we make updates. Here is the link

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/michellepinsky

Thanks

Howard

And we're off!

Michelle spoke with Dr. Barreau today and they want to start her treatment today. So we are going to her first Chemo Appt at 12:45 today. I will be there with Michelle and my mom is going to pick up the girls from school.

We're both a little nervous, but you have to start at some point. We will update the blog more now and the carecalendar for meals, rides, chemo bags, etc now that we are on the path.

On a lighter note, Dayna suggested that we have a party when all this is completed. We all think this is a great idea and look forward to that day.

Howard

More updates

So the plans were that Michelle was going to start Chemo tomorrow. We had decided to go to IU Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis for a third opinion since we had two different opinions of the chemo treatment regimen. They were able to comfirm with the Dr. that recommended the AC followed by T and provided a lot of details as to why this was the best course of action along with the risks associated with it.

It really eased my mine and I think Michelle's also. We had already cancelled the appt for tomorrow so we will have to reschedule for maybe later this week. Michelle did have some problems last week with not having an appetite and feeling nauseous. It seems she may have had an infection near her port. Her Dr put her on antibiotics and she has been doing much better. Appetite is back to normal and nausea is gone.

I'm sure it seems that we having been going back and forth, but we wanted to make sure that we found the best care for Michelle. If you are reading this, you know she is worth it!! Now we are back on track and heading forward.

On another not. Cincinnati has a great ride, called the Ride Cincinnati. It raises money for the Barret Cancer Research center here in Cincinnati. Last year I rode 45 miles are raised around $750 in honor of Michelle's sister Ellen, who had breast cancer 3 years ago. This year I have created a team called Team PinkSky. If you are interested in Riding on the team, (you dont have to ride 45 miles) or just want to donate, go to http://www.ridecincinnati.org/team/pinksky to either register or donate.

I'll update you again tomorrow..

Howard

A Change...

Hi All,

It's been a while since I wrote. I am feeling very well these days now that surgery is over and I'm "back to my usual self." I am taking the girls to and from school and going about my days pretty normally right now. I am trying to build my strength and stay healthy in preparation for chemotherapy which will start in the next few weeks.

After the last post, we met with my surgeon the next day and learned some additional information which we didn't learn the day before when meeting with the oncologist. I guess it's always better to wait for your surgeon to talk to you about the pathology report before letting someone else talk to you about it!

Although the news is pretty much the same, I learned that there was more cancer in the breast than I originally heard from the oncologist. After taking out all that she could in surrounding tissue, the entire area of the tumor was over 5 cm. The cancer was also found in my blood vessels which is another path for the cancer to exit the breast and get into other parts of the body. So far, there does not appear to be cancer anywhere else in my body (other than the breast) that we can see, but chances are there are microscopic cells lingering around that need to be killed. This is why the chemotherapy is necessary.

The "margains" were pretty clean, however, it appears that there is additional cancer in some ducts and other areas of the breast. Therefore, it was recommended that a mastectomy is definitely in my future. Most likely after chemotherapy. The jury is still out on whether or not radiation is necessary, but it is very likely that it will be. That will come after the surgery.

I went for a second opinion yesterday (regarding chemotherapy treatment drugs) after meeting with Dr. Barreau (oncologist) last week. The second opinion gave me a totally different course of treatment recommendation. Either treatment will likely work, but one has more long term side effects than the other. It is complicated and I want to make the best choice, after all...the goal is a long life!

I will be seeking a third opinion in Indianapolis in about 1 1/2 weeks. Hopefully, this opinion will help me make the final decision on which oncologist to choose. As of now, I will just have to wait which I don't like to do.

So...it looks like chemotherapy may be delayed a week or so. This way I can feel like I am making a good decision on which treatment to use.

I am doing ok emotionally...just a bit nervous about making all these decsions. My family and friends are keeping me sane!

Thanks so much to everyone who brought meals while I was recovering from surgery. It helped so much! Also, thank you to everyone who has sent cards, called etc. It means so much to me and Howard. We are lucky to have such wonderful family and friends.

We will write another update soon when there is more info! Thanks for checking in.

Much Love to everyone!!

Michelle

Great news today

We met with the oncologist today, Dr Barreau, who we loved! He was able to get the Pathology report. It's great news. Dr Manders removed 20 lymph nodes and they only found cancer in the one lymph node that we had known about from the beginning. No cancer in any of the other 19 lymph nodes!!!! He also said that there were clear margins around the area removed from her breast. The tumor in her breast was 3.2 CM

I must say that I just about started to cry. Then he told us the Grade of the cancer. For those who don't know, Grading is different from staging.

Grading is how aggressive the cancer is.

Staging is

The stage of a cancer is a descriptor (usually numbers I to IV) of how much the cancer has spread. The stage often takes into account the size of a tumor, how deeply it has penetrated, whether it has invaded adjacent organs, how many lymph nodes it has metastasized to (if any), and whether it has spread to distant organs. Staging of cancer is important because the stage at diagnosis is the most powerful predictor of survival, and treatments are often changed based on the stage.

Michelle's cancer was a Grade 3 which means that it was very aggressive. Which also means it can grow and spread quickly. This explains why nothing showed up on Michelle's Mammogram last year. It might sound scary, but thankfully Michelle found it early.

So what happens next? Michelle has her first Chemo Appt on March 23. There are going to be four rounds of treatment every two weeks for the first drug, Adriamycin.

More about adriamycin here http://www.chemocare.com/bio/adriamycin.asp

Then another 4 rounds of treatment every two weeks with Taxol.

More about Taxol here http://www.chemocare.com/bio/taxol.asp

So now we start the long process of recovery. Michelle continues to get stronger everyday. We meet with the Dr Manders tomorrow and hopefully the drain can be removed.

Thanks again to everyone for their support. We can't begin to tell you how much it means to us.

Howard

First Day at home

Michelle is doing really well. Her color is back and swelling has gone down. Nausea hasn't been too bad. Having her Mom and sister here have been great. It's giving Dayna and I the chance to go out for a Daddy Dayna Date.

Michelle's strength continues to grow each day. Right now she is usually up for about 45 minutes and then back to sleep for 5-6 hours. She's able to walk around without any help. Emotionally she seems to be doing well. It continues to amaze us how many cards we receive each day.

As for me. I'm doing ok too.

Thanks for checking in.

H

We're coming home!!!

Yeahh!!!!!!


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