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