Long story short: found a lump, scheduled a mammography, called back for an ultrasound, told to visit a surgeon for a biopsy. Met with Dr. Tim Bullock at Brookwood's Surgical Associates. He did a biopsy in the office by sticking in a hollow tube needle. Quick and easy. I had a BRAC analysis done at the same time, which I should have done a long time ago. The biopsy was going to be coming back in 2-3 days, the BRAC comes back in 3-6 weeks.
When the biopsy came back, Dr. Bullock shared that it was a triple negative breast cancer. He had set up an appointment with Dr. Brian Adler with Brookwood's Oncology & Hematology Center. Bill and I were able to leave Dr. Bullock's office and go straight to meet with Dr. Adler. Dr. Adler's office is the same office where I went for oncology before with Dr. Lisa Larson. Lisa has since retired.
Dr. Adler was wonderful and answered our questions about triple negative and what his best recommendations were. Rather than go for another opinion with a diagnostic team at UAB, Dr. Adler said he respected Dr. Nabell at UAB. They set up an appointment for us to meet with Dr. Nabell.
Since we had the snow storm warning day (that ended up being just a cold day), and everything was closed, I wasn't able to see Dr. Nabell until this past Tuesday, March 3. My notes from that meeting are below! I sent these notes as an email to my parents, my sister and my kids. Then, I felt somewhat better about sharing this news..
March 3
Well, some questions answered, other questions still remain, and a couple of decisions made!
* Met with Dr. Lisle Nabell at Kirkland Clinic (of UAB Hospital). She has an office in the hematology/oncology department there.
* I really liked her immediately. She is considered a breast, neck and head cancer specialist, and has been at Kirkland for about 20 years. Due to my 'at ease' with her, I decided to ask her to be my oncologist. I still really like Dr. Adler at Brookwood Hospital, but I felt that Dr. Nabell was able to more confidently and knowledgeably talk about my situation.
* Which is: what she would consider as a Stage 2 although again, that's mostly based on the size which I'm not seeing as important as the type of cancer (triple negative).
* She had slightly different to a lot different recommendations for treatment. She said her best recourse is chemo first and surgery last. Because Kirkland is a cancer center, they have access to various trials. She will be checking on a specific trial to see if I would be eligible for it (which I may not be, since I've had cancer before). I am set up with a nuclear bone scan and cat scan for Monday. She doesn't expect to see that the cancer has spread, based on clear lung and heart sounds, and the fact that I've had no symptoms. The scans will show that for sure. They will also do an ultrasound of the area to check for lymph nodes, but, like Dr. Adler, she didn't feel any swollen nodes. Seems like she said MRI but maybe that's the cat scan.
* Also, I need to have a port put in (for chemo treatments) and a 'clip' put in near the tumor so they can tell where the tumor is/was in case it shrinks. There is a slight chance (about 20 percent) that the tumor will completely disappear with the treatments. The clip also lets them know if the tumor is shrinking, which will indicate that the chemo is working. Even if the tumor disappears, they will still do surgery.
* Surgery determinants: don't have BRAC analysis back yet. If positive, then mastectomy is indicated. If negative, then option for lumpectomy, OR mastectomy. Downside of lumpectomy is that radiation is included after that surgery to make sure the edges are 'clean.' Also, I'd have to be diligent about checking very regularly with mammograms. Would continue to be 15-18 percent chance of cancer returning. So, while I'm having chemo, I have time to meet with a plastic surgeon to talk about options, once the analysis is back (probably will come back next week at some point). '
* Dr. Nabell had definite plans for chemo treatments. I've received the "What to Be Aware Of" info for chemo patients, so that is helpful to read ahead of time. The treatment will include 2 chemos every two weeks for 4 treatments, and then another chemo for 12 weeks. Yes, you read that right...about 4 months before surgery.
Hopefully I can get the port and clip in this week, and after the scans on Monday, be able to start treatment mid to late week next week. She said that I would be very tired 2-3 days after the treatments. Hair will start falling out by 2 weeks. She said there may be some nausea included. After she sees the scans, etc. and starts me with treatments, I can send you the names of the chemo, but only if you're interested!
My attitude is strong, and I'm not about pity or being a victim. There are a lot of people with much worse conditions. I know this will be a long-haul so I appreciate the positives coming at us! Bill has and is being great, of course. Rachel has been tremendous at helping out at the house and is planning a couple more times, which is amazing. Ben is full of positives for me as well. Rachel has not talked with Caden yet, which is appropriate since I haven't started treatments yet. The information from today will help.
If I get anything wrong, Bill will tell me and I'll correct it! Glad he was there today to listen too!
Thanks for all your good wishes and prayers...keep them coming!
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