April 26, 2012 Round #5 – Beginning the Search and Destroy Mission

April 26, 2012 Round #5 – Beginning the Search and Destroy Mission

I started round #5 of my 8 chemo treatments today at 10:00am.  This is an important milestone in that it is the being of the end for the second half of my chemo treatments – the chemo homestretch!  It is also an important milestone as I am switching to two new drugs (details repeated below from a previous blog entry):

1.     T – Paclitaxel (or trade name: TAXOL) – this is a chemo drug that can cause some nerve damage on the fingers and toes (and potentially other areas of the body), however, the risk should not be too high for me based on my general health.  This drug can also compromise my immune system and white blood cell count and cause food to taste metallic.  However, I should not experience any nausea with this drug so this will be a nice change.  I will continue to take the Neupogen to counter the drop in my immune system.

2.     T – Trastuzumab (or trade name: HERCEPTIN) – this is not a chemo drug per say, but a drug that targets specific cells.  As I am what is called HER2+ (HER2 Positive - which makes the cancer I have more aggressive), my prognosis would have been more dire in the past without Herceptin as the chances of recurrence and mortality are doubled for me without it.  Although there are side effects with this drug (but should be manageable given my general health), Herceptin will all but remove the additional risks by targeting the troublesome over expressed protein cells it is looking for.  It has only been approved for common use in cancer patients for the last few years – it had been an experimental drug prior to that with more side effects.  Again a silver lining as I am benefiting from previous research and will have improved chances of survival and less chance of recurrence due to this medical advancement.  So I will try not to worry about the potential side effects that could include: impacts to my heart, flu-like symptoms and potential chills/fever on the first dose (not bad if possibly happens only once!)

While the combination of the previous two drugs, these two drugs, radiation and hormone therapy are apparently the overall key to significantly reducing the chances of recurrence and mortality, HERCEPTIN is a key drug in this formula that would not have been available to me and the 25% of women with breast cancer about 10 or more years ago.   Below is some information from a Herceptin web site and the web site link (you can google other sites for more information):

How HER2+ breast cancer is different

Not all breast cancers are the same. HER2+ breast cancer cells have more HER2 receptors (a particular protein found on the surface of cells) than normal breast cells.

• Having too many HER2 receptors may make the cancer cells grow and divide faster, creating more HER2+ cancer cells
• HER2+ breast cancer is considered aggressive because it grows and spreads quickly

Targeted therapy is available for some women with HER2+ breast cancer.

http://www.herceptin.com/breast/herceptin/

Based on this and new breakthrough research about the overall “HER” family (sounds like there is HER1, HER2, HER3 and HER4 - Seems ironic/poetic that the family sounds feminine based on it being associated with Breast Cancer:o)), I am now SUPER HAPPY to finally be on this medication.

As I sat in the chemo chair today for my 1.5 hour treatment and 1 hour wait period to see if I had any reactions to this miracle drug, I was envisioning the antibodies roaming around my body to find these troublesome HER2+ cells and attack them.

Later as we were driving home, Todd made the perfect analogy: Herceptin is on a Search and Destroy mission and that is what we want.  You betcha that is what I want!

The treatment and the hours that have followed so far (it is 8:00pm) have been uneventful and I am very proud of the uneventful day.

Tomorrow I will be “in the chair” for 5-6 hours as there tends to be initial side effects with the next chemo drug, T – Paclitaxel (or trade name: TAXOL).  It sounds like if there is to be any significant reactions it happens on the first dose, the effects are treated and then I should be good to go.  I will need to watch for chills, aches and pains over the next few days.  If these symptoms become problematic, I have a handy dandy prescription for another drug that will address them.  I also still have my friend Neupogen, the handy white blood cell boosting injections on my side after each treatment to continue to combat my arch nemesis “infection”.

So I may not be in the Army, Navy or Marines and I haven’t been deployed to any war zone, but I am now on a Search and Destroy mission using Herceptin blasting antibodies as my offence.  The Search and Destroy mission will last about one year (yes this continues after chemo is finished) or 17 treatments.   It is great to live in a Province and Country that is ahead of the curve when it comes to Breast Cancer Treatments!

More to come after tomorrow’s marathon chemo session…

April 25, 2012 End of Round #4 of 8…and the Winner is…

April 25, 2012 End of Round #4 of 8…and the Winner is…

Carmela, Cancer Babe is again the TOTALLY undisputed winner of round #4!!!

Running score:

Carmela Cancer Babe – 3 Rounds

Chemo demons and its friends – 1 Round

Other than first 1-10 days of a variety of weirdness, this round was completely uneventful – boy do I ever like being boring these days.  No infection, no crazy trips to emergency, no major wallowing in my own pity, etc, etc., etc. 

We actually enjoyed Easter and the improving weather with quite a bit of normality with this round.

The chemo half way mark is really complete now. 

That is all that really needs to be said other than…

Chemo demons you can REALLY kiss my arse … AGAIN!

Onto round #5 – Herceptin do your best!

April 20, 2012 Update on Mamma Morano…

April 20, 2012 Update on Mamma Morano…

Serafina Morano (my Mom) went in for her scheduled 7:45 am surgery (Mastectomy with a Sentinel Node Dissection) on April 20^th, 2012 at 6:30am at Eagle Ridge Hospital.  After much discussion, we decided that it would be better that my Dad take my Mom without an entourage (ie me and the rest of the family).  At first I felt like I was abandoning my Mom and Dad, but after the surgery and a comment that my Mom made, I realized that this was their time, not ours.

The surgery was over by about 11:00am, my Dad went to visit her.  I finally phoned my Dad to find out how it was going at about 2:30pm where he told me he did not want to disturb us and thought we could wait until the next day to see my Mom – he and my Mom were just playing their usual selfless selves.  Well I appreciated that it was an overnight affair, but Todd, the boys and I wanted to see how Mom was doing anyway.  We all went down for a short visit where we found that Mom was resting comfortably, had good color and seemed in good spirits.  She joked with the boys and the boys were their usual boisterous selves – so we left pretty quickly before we were kicked out:o)  Before I left Mom, I asked how Dad was doing and she said in a simple and loving way that “Dad was sad this morning and said that it will not be the same” – simple but heartfelt from a man that does not often express his feelings and emotions.  I am glad that they finally had a “moment” before the surgery.

Now Mom and I both have “dangling PARTiciples” and both on the right side:o)  This is not something every mother and daughter have in common and I don’t highly recommend it:o(

By the next day, Mom was discharged from the hospital in what seemed to be in good shape at about noon and was home shortly afterwards. 

One of the things that my Mom was most concerned about was nausea and vomiting from the anesthetic – she has had negative reactions to anesthetic from previous surgeries.  Although all seemed have been going well in this department, I learned after she got home that she had been sick at the hospital and then again on the drive home (Dad had to take care of the mess on his own and Mom felt bad about making the mess – Mom is a complete neat fanatic, so you can imagine how frustrated she was that she made the mess and couldn’t help to clean up…).  The hospital staff had given Mom some anti-nausea medication intravenously before she was discharge believing that it would be enough to treat the nausea, but it obviously did not do the full trick on the drive home.  She seemed better later in the day and took some Gravol to further help with the nausea.  The next day (Sunday) the nausea still did not disappear and her drain tube was also plugging up.

With these two things coming together, Mom was not in any shape to be taken to the Nursing clinic where we had previously made an appointment for a post-surgical visit.  After some discussion with the Nursing clinic (don’t get me started on the so-called Home Nursing Clinic policy, budget and scheduling this go around….it seems that the provincial budget does not cover coming to the home under the Home Nursing program like they did for me – does not seem fair given my Mom’s age vs my age.. very frustrating), they finally agreed to come and visit Mom at home instead of having Mom go to the clinic.  Once the nurse came (Sue – also a nice nurse from my past), the drain tube seemed be working out better and Mom had better instructions on how to manage the nausea, constipation and pain (all interdependent at this stage).  So it looked like we were on the right track again. 

On Monday, the nausea seemed have subsided, but Mom felt some pain and swelling close to the entry point for the drain tube.  After trying to get the fluids in the tube flow better, we decided to call the Nursing clinic to have a Nurse look at the situation.  Again after some discussion, they were able to fit Mom in that afternoon.  Dad drove us to the clinic and Sandy (one of the kind and competent nurses that helped me out during my infection adventure) changed the surgical dressing and worked on the de-clogging the drain tube again.  Over the next day things seemed to be on track yet again.

It is now Wednesday – about 5 days post surgery.  Mom is looking better, eating well, staying hydrated, has not had any fevers or sign of infection and the drain tube seems to be under control.  Things seem to be coming along well with the initial bumps in the road managed on time to avoid larger problems.

I am positive Mom will heal well and I am optimistic that she will not need to have chemo or radiation.

We will have to wait until May 2^nd when she sees her surgeon again to get the pathology results to really know what will come next.

Let’s all pool our positive thoughts and prayers together and hope that this is the worst of it for my Mom…..

April 21, 2012 Getting One of My Wishes…

April 21, 2012 Getting One of My Wishes…the gift of music

In the coming entries, I will expand on why I have named my blog “Getting What You Wish For”, but for now I will fill you in on one of my wishes that came true thanks to my sister-in-law Heather.

The gift was music...in a BIG way!

This is how it goes…Todd and I are BIG Coldplay fans.  We have all their albums and regularly commiserate with Angela, Derek and Graeme about their music.  Our friend Owen (also a burgeoning musician) can cover their songs quite well and has graced us with his renditions of some Coldplay songs from time to time. 

Coldplay’s music is current and comes in a variety of forms from love ballads to alternative rock.  The lyrics also range from hitting your heart to somewhat random thought processes – but always original and always creative (which I love).  In enjoying their music and that of many other current bands and artists, I like to fool myself into thinking that I am hip and with the times:o)  I definitely liked going to see various bands and artists when I was younger and now that the kids are getting older, I feel like our time has come again!

For the last few years I promised myself that I would go to a Coldplay concert next time they were in town as we missed them the last time they came to Vancouver.  So wouldn’t you know it, they announced their tour before Christmas and tickets for the Vancouver show went on sale.  Graeme was first on the draw to notice the announcement. However, by the time Todd went on line to see about buying some tickets, the first show was sold out.  A second show was announced and it too was sold out within hours.  Todd scoured the internet to find alternate ways of getting ticket, but to no avail.

As we got more desperate for ways to purchase some tickets, I added a PS note at the end of one of my blog entries before Christmas asking if anyone knew a better way to source the tickets so that we could buy some.  

Lo and behold Santa Clause came early the next day after my blog post where Heather (my sister-in-law) confirmed that she was able to source two floor tickets and had purchased them for us as a Christmas gift.  Todd and I were stunned that Heather was able to source and buy the tickets for us.  The other awesome thing about the tickets was that the timing could not have been better with respect to my chemo treatment schedule where my immune system was expected to be on the upswing!

April 21^st came and Todd and I could not believe that we had real tickets to the concert.  Off we trucked down to Rogers Arena and made our way to our floor seats.  I still am pinching myself that we got see Coldplay live!

After the first two opening acts, the whole audience was on its feet from the beginning to the end of the concert.  The energy was so great and so positive that I felt like the concert could have gone on for hours more (not sure that the band could have taken it, but we sure could have!).  We both really enjoyed it and feel that it was by far the best large live concert that we have EVER seen!  Everything was phenomenal from the music, the band, the energy, the light show, the wrist bands they gave out that lit up through wireless signals (way to go TELUS and other technologies!), the major confetti that was blown into the audience, etc, etc, etc.  Chris Martin was to die for and the band’s ability to use the whole stadium to perform really attempted to make the night more intimate.

To get a sense of the concert, I have attached two You Tube links from some of the fans that attended the concert in Vancouver (you can also google “You Tube Coldplay Vancouver 2012 for more links”):

1.     The first link shows the beginning of the show and a great view of the effect of all the wrist bands going off at the same time as well as the beginning of the light show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cFprUe33iY&feature=related

2.     This second link shows the band playing an acoustic version of “Us Against the World” (a song that I quoted in a previous blog entry) where the band is playing right in amongst the audience – what a very special surprise!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oBZpuevQyE&feature=related

Wishes can’t be granted better than this…tickets gifted by family, out on a date with my husband, the kids having fun on their own without parents, an amazing concert experience and being healthy enough to enjoy the gift… priceless.

Thanks Heather!

Love Carmela and Todd

PS: Angela and Derek, I don’t want to make you too jealous, but you really should have come with us:o)

PPSS: Graeme, it is OK that you are jealous because you are young enough to probably see a bunch of Coldplay concerts in your lifetime…

April 4, 2012: The Half Way Mark Finally!!!

April 4, 2012 The Half Way Mark Finally!!!

I have to say that the chemo routine has been getting a bit old for me this round, but all of you keep me going!  Just making it to round #4, (with the skin of my teeth due the strep throat infection) has actually boosted my energy and optimism to prepare for the next 4 rounds of chemo.  While there is more to come after that (four weeks or so of daily radiation, an additional 9 rounds of Herceptin injection therapy after the next four treatments - which will not have the same aggressive side effects of chemo therapy - breast reconstruction at some point in the future and then 5 years of hormone therapy), this chemo stage is what I believe to be the most difficult part of the journey given the added infection risks due to comprised immunity.  Having had such a significant infection early on, I now have the realities of chemo therapy and surgery risks under my belt and have made it through so far. 

On the brighter side, I actually seem to tolerate chemo therapy treatment quite well other than the infection setbacks that have come and gone.  As mentioned in my previous post, the first 1 – 10 days are the most wonky and then I generally feel pretty good.  My oncologist reminded me that while exercise is good, it is better to do it more often with less intensity – getting worn down is what I need to avoid, so I will try not push myself as much, but boy is it hard to restrain yourself when one feels relatively normal, and I had been getting fairly fit prior to this (besides you all know how patient I am about being restricted, etc.:o(  ).

I will get through the next three weeks and keep healthy.  I need to stay healthy to help my Mom through her ordeal which starts on April 20^th with her surgery. As well, Todd and I have been really looking forward to going to see Coldplay live on April 21^st (thanks to Todd’s sister’s -  Heather - generosity and creative on-line booking skills).  I am crossing my fingers all goes well over the next few weeks otherwise; Graeme might be the proud owner of a Coldplay ticket!

Here is how the chemical party has played out so far and will for the second round:

Chemo Cocktail Part I (first 4 rounds): with these first four rounds of chemo, I was prescribed the following two main chemo cocktail ingredients:

1.     A – Doxorubicin (or trade name: ADRIAMYCIN):  this is the lovely ruby red drug that makes your pee pink for the first few times after infusion and can affect your heart (permanently).  So far may heart seems to have survived OK – yeah!

2.     C – Cyclophosphamide

Between these two drugs the main side effects could or have been:

·         Lowered immune system/white blood cell count – this proved to be a problem for me on the first round and is now being supported by Neupogen (the self injected drug to boost my white blood cell count)

·         Hair loss – well we all know what happened there:o)

·         Onset of early Menopause – well nothing to report in that department yet, but I have a few good friends to get some advice from when this wonderful side effect kicks in!

·         Increased risk of bleeding – I have been OK in this department

·         Tissue or Vein injury – thanks to my “Power Port”, I am good in this department as well.

·         Heart failure – so far so good:o)

·         There are a few other nasties that are highly unlikely so I won’t go on.

Chemo Cocktail Part II (second 4 rounds): For the next four treatments, I will be moving to two new drugs (the first two will no longer be administered):

1.     T – Paclitaxel (or trade name: TAXOL) – this is a chemo drug that can cause some nerve damage on the fingers and toes (and potentially other areas of the body), however, the risk should not be too high for me based on my general health.  This drug can also compromise my immune system and white blood cell count and cause food to taste metallic.  However, I should not experience any nausea with this drug so this will be a nice change.  I will continue to take the Neupogen to counter the drop in my immune system.

2.     T – Trastuzumab (or trade name: HERCEPTIN) – this is not a chemo drug per say, but a drug that targets specific cells.  As I am what is called HER2+ (HER2 Positive - which makes the cancer I have more aggressive), my prognosis would have been more dire in the past without Herceptin as the chances of recurrence and mortality are doubled for me without it.  Although there are side effects with this drug (but should be manageable given my general health), Herceptin will all but remove the additional risks by targeting the troublesome over expressed protein cells it is looking for.  It has only been approved for common use in cancer patients for the last few years – it had been an experimental drug prior to that with more side effects.  Again a silver lining as I am benefiting from previous research and will have improved chances of survival and less chance of recurrence due to this medical advancement.  So I will try not to worry about the potential side effects that could include: impacts to my heart, flu-like symptoms and potential chills/fever on the first dose (not bad if possibly happens only once!)

While I will need to get used to how I feel with this new round of chemical cocktails, I am optimistic that I will fair well, and hopefully better than the first four rounds of chemo.

Wish me luck!

...Onto the second half of the chemo part of the journey and my personal marathon….

April 3, 2012 The Giving Continues… Marc D. Shears his Locks!!

April 3, 2012 The Giving Continues… Marc D. Shears his Locks!!

While my husband, Todd, kicked off “Giving Where We Live” to support Breast Cancer Research by shearing his locks, Marc D. (our good friend, neighbor and basketball coach extraordinaire to Iain’s basketball team) has made good on his promise and has done the same with his locks on April 3, 2012!  Boy, are we ever lucky to have such amazing support within our community.  I am hoping that our good friend Lisa D. (Marc’s lovely wife) can forgive our peer pressure as Marc is now sporting a beautiful bald look.  Marc works for the 311 Service for the City of Vancouver City where he received great support from his team (go figure, who wouldn’t want to shave off their boss’s or colleagues hair!) for this event.  You will see from the two you tube videos (links below) that fun was had by all, including Lisa, and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Marc (some of the his facial expressions say it all:o))

• Short one: http://youtu.be/Dt3GAu_zTws
• Long one: http://youtu.be/KOejHnDK5

As Todd and I watched the videos, most of the tears that ran down our cheeks were from laughing so hard. This was really great to watch and to see how much fun Marc, his team and Lisa were having being part of the shearing!

Some highlights for us were:

·         The 311 shaved on the back of Marc’s head—his boss did a great job

·         One lady really knew how to use the razor

·         The one fellow that was also bald, was meticulous and very supportive, especially during the shaving portion – he undoubtedly was the experienced one of the lot:o)

·         When Lisa said "that is pretty darn bald honey" and "this is appropriate for Easter, we just need to put you in the back yard and we're done". We were thinking the same about painting our heads like an Easter egg:o) -- seems very appropriate, perhaps we can “Heads for Hire” this Easter:o)

·         Marc’s various facial expressions

·         Having others use a shaver and not just a razor on Marc’s head-- very brave indeed!

·         It’s all about the shape of the head and Marc’s head looks great!

With a few tears of gratitude among the tears of laughter, thank you!

The direct fund-raising results to date between Todd’s efforts, my Breast Friend Network’s generosity, Marc’s efforts through his team:

·         $1300+ between Todd’s efforts and My Breast Friend Network generosity with a possible donation/matching from TELUS (to be confirmed). I am in the middle of creating a permanent donations web site through the CBCF (Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation) to capture donations on line.  The web site is as follows and will be fully functional in the coming week or so:

• https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/startup.aspx?eventid=91669

NOTE: my 5 year goal is raise $250,000 which is what I have currently estimated is the cost to “the system” for my Breast Cancer journey alone! 

·         $700+ from Marc’s efforts and his 311 team’s generosity – Marc’s goal is $1000.  Marc has created his own donations web page under the Canadian Cancer Society Banner where his team and others can also donate

• http://cancerevents.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=420153&supid=353817084

The indirect fund raising results to date from my sister, Maria’s, and my colleague, Matthew’s, participation in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer are as follows:

·         $2285.00 with a goal of $2500 - $5000 for Maria:

o    http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR?px=2610447&pg=personal&fr_id=1413&s_src=iphone&JServSessionIdr004=v1ku7uhnn2.app209b

·         $2149.00 with a goal of $3200.00 for Matthew:

o    http://www.conquercancer.ca/site/TR?px=2649995&pg=personal&fr_id=1413&fl=en_US&et=IHvwaSXCnCFQdEYJjkJpzg&s_tafId=281004

NOTE:  As I research all various ways to donate for Breast Cancer Research all these options are good as many times the primes can specify where they would like the funds to be funneled.  So please choose the route that you feel most comfortable with.  If you are at a loss, we can take manual donations and provide receipts for tax purposes as well.

A big THANK YOU to Marc, Lisa, the 311 team, Todd and my Breast Friends network for helping us:

Pay it Back to Pay it Forward!

April 3, 2012 End of Round #3 of 8 – And the winner is….

April 3, 2012 End of Round #3 of 8 – And the winner is….

Carmela, Cancer Babe is the undisputed winner of round #3. 

This round was mostly uneventful (remember uneventful is such a good word).  Generally the first 3-4 days after treatment are OK other than some basic nausea management.  Days 4 – 10 seem to be the wonky days where I can usually function in that I can get out and about for walks and grocery shopping or taking the kids to various places, cooking and some basic housework, reading, listening to music some visiting and, of course, my crocheting addiction.  However, there are times that I just need to sit or sleep and relax.  It is hard to describe the various feeling I go through between low grade nausea, some fatigue, brain fog and some general out-of-body sensations.  After day 10 I know that I was not feeling too great, because “the fog” seems to lift and I am generally myself again where I just want to be normal permanently – not waiting for the next round to hit me again.  I have to say that some anger and impatience crept in this round when I felt good because I really do not feel like I have cancer other than the obvious surgical scars and the treatments I am going through.  But, as I write this, I realize that perhaps these feelings of anger are a positive thing in that I am fighting through this all the way and can’t wait to be part the real world 100% of the time, not just 60% - 70% of time.  Even saying this, I believe I am more fortunate than many that just can’t function very well through treatment or are going through a more severe journey than I – always a silver lining!

I do have to admit to one glitch, after feeling really great from day 10, I did end up getting a normal strep throat infection three days before my 4^th chemo treatment.  Since I developed a fever the first day that fell within the cancer fever protocols, I was advised to go to emergency at ERH to get checked over.  After the routine tests were completed and analyzed, it was confirmed that I had strep throat and that I would be on oral antibiotics for 10 days.  As my white blood cell count was at a good level and that I was improving day to day (ie the fever went away on its own after the second day without meds), my oncologist supported proceeding with my 4^th chemo treatment – a delay was not worth it with what was found.  I will be doing what I can over the next few days and resting more to ensure nothing “eventful” happens!!  But, like I say, I am not counting this minor setback as it seems to be fully managed at the moment!

Onto Round #4…

Chemo demons you can kiss my arse…again!!!

April 2, 2012 Mamma Morano update -- some silver lining for the moment

April 2, 2012 Mamma Morano update -- some silver lining for the moment

As you know, my family now knows "the routine" once you are diagnosed with breast cancer.  This is not something I would have wanted to be an expert in that is for sure.  However, it certainly comes in handy when trying to help a loved one who is not as capable to maneuver through and interpret all the cancer jargon that is quickly thrown at you after diagnosis and when treatment options are presented.

We already knew to that my Mom had a small cancerous tumor in her left breast that had already spread past her milk duct (small is good, but leaving the milk duct, not as good).  After the initial relief that it was a small tumor, the review of the options started.  My Mom’s options were as follows:

1.     Do nothing: this was not really an option, but my Mom, kept trying to go here.  I think that she did not want to believe that cancer was found and that she her fear was presenting itself.  Doing nothing for my Mom or anyone else is really not an option if you want to avoid the cancer from spreading and avoid early mortality.

2.     Lumpectomy (targeted tissue removal) and Sentinel Lymph node dissection (taking only the lymph nodes that are identified through radioactive blue die that is injected prior to surgery): given the small size of the tumor and Mom’s age, a Lumpectomy is a viable option.  This option would be guaranteed to be followed by radiation.  Chemo therapy would only be required based on the final pathology report provided post surgery (after the removed tissue is examined).  Hormone therapy would most likely be recommended as the cancer seems to be hormone receptor positive (this is a good thing).  The con with this approach is that if additional cancer is found at the margin of the tissue that is removed or in additional lymph nodes, a second surgery would be required.

3.     Mastectomy (removal of the left breast) and Sentinel Lymph node dissection (taking only the lymph nodes that are identified through radioactive blue die that is injected prior to surgery):  This option would be a more aggressive surgery, however, there is less likely a second surgery unless more lymph nodes require removal or if there is cancer found in or near the chest wall.  This seems unlikely based on the location of the cancer that was found.  Based upon the full evaluation of the cancer from the pathology report post surgery, radiation may not be required and chemo therapy may not be required.  Hormone therapy would still most likely be recommended.  The main con is the aggressive surgery and potential second surgery to remove more lymph nodes.

My Mom has been referred to a different surgeon than the one I had.  I have to say that although she seems quite competent and organized from what I can tell and that I could probably relate to her, she went way to fast for what my Mom needed and her bedside manner for my Mom’s needs were just not up to snuff.  So that is where I came in and ensured that I understood the results so far and the details that needed to be considered in weighing the options.  I did some interpreting as the surgeon went way to fast in terms of wanting a decision without all the information I thought was required at this stage of the game (ie before an surgery).  For instance, we knew the basic nature of the cancer from the mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy. However, we did not have additional information that would help us with the final decision.  The additional information I thought was required included a bone scan (since, if the cancer was to spread, breast cancer tends to start with the bone structure) and Breast MRI (as an MRI generally provides a higher definition view of the breast tissue and could potentially determine if there is additional cancer in either breast).  The surgeon agreed to our request to have these tests completed before any decision was made.  So off my Mom went with my Dad to the journey to complete these various tests over the 1 – 2 week period based on when appoints could be made. 

A follow up appointment was made with the surgeon for March 27^th to review the results of all the tests.  This is how it played out:

·         Mammogram – January 2012:  showed signs of cancer

·         Biopsy and Ultrasound – February 2012: confirmed cancer tumor and indicated that the tumor was small in nature

·         Bone Scan – March 2012: results show that the cancer has not spread into her bones – yeah!  The results show some degeneration in her knees, but we already knew this and this does not relate to cancer, more likely arthritis.

·         Abdominal ultrasound (additional test ordered by the surgeon) – March 2012: does not show any cancer in her liver or pancreas – yeah!  There seems to be cists on/near her liver, but the surgeon and the report indicate that these are not cancerous. 

·         Breast MRI – March 2012:  Only shows the same area of cancer that the mammogram and biopsy had shown – ie does not look like there is additional cancer in the rest of her left breast or any cancer in her right breast – yeah! 

·         Blood work looked good – March 2012: yeah!

Now based on this information, I felt that my Mom would have much more information to make a decision.  As the doctor explained the results, as I breathed a sigh of relief (these results were good news from my perspective!) and as I helped interpret the information, my Mom wanted to get one last opinion/input from her own doctor.  I was good with this as I wanted the final decision to be hers, not mine. 

The next day, with the input from my Mom’s doctor, a decision was made.  My Mom is now scheduled for a Mastectomy with a Sentinel Node Dissection on April 20^th, 2012. 

In this case, I am very happy with the decision that was made as I seems logical and in my Mom’s own words, I noa needa to looka good at mya age, I already hada my babies and noa needa my breast anymore – well I think she looks great no matter what.

While I know that my Mom is quite scared of cancer in general, the new journey she finds herself in and she continues to worry far too much about me, I know she will get through as she has gotten through so much in her life up to now.  Strength does run in the family and this is something that I am very happy to share.


More to come as my Mom’s journey now unfolds (we are keeping a watchful eye on my Dad to make sure he can take all these jolts that have befallen his family)….