Friday, February 26, 2010

The results this morning were the same as 3 days ago. They found a 2nd lesion in the right breast with DCIS. So now there are two areas of cancer. Apparently they're both in the same quadrant of the breast, one at 10:00 and one at 11:00. Technically this means that lumpectomy is still a consideration. My gut feeling is that it's not. But I won't know anything for sure until I see a surgeon. My first appointment is next Thursday, March 4th, with Dr. Gerald Schiff, at the Association of South Bay Surgeons in Torrance.

The good news is, neither lesion is inflammatory, or has gone outside the ducts. They're both "stage 0". When the nurse said it's 99% treatable, I replied, "No for me it's going to be 100% treatable." I also asked her if she thought I would ever have to have chemo. She said she couldn't answer that... yet... but didn't think so. That has to be my worst fear, chemo.

But alas I am getting ahead of myself. One thing at a time, right?

She also told me that they already checked the lymph nodes, and saw no involvement. Not sure if they do the SLNM (Sentinal lymph Node Mapping) during the surgery, or not.

The Tumor Board meets next Thursday at 7am, to discuss my case, and my appt with the surgeon is that same day, which is good. She said a rough guess would be that my surgery could be 2-3 weeks after that appt. If it's 3 weeks, that's right before Paul goes back to work, and right before my next DJDK dance. I might have to cancel it, unless I can delegate all the work out to volunteers. I'm bummed that Paul has to go back to work on 3/29. He's been sooo amazing through this. I don't know what I'll do without him during my recovery. Guess I'll cross that bridge...

So many things going through my head. Do I get a 2nd opinion? Will that just delay my treatment? So far I have been quite impressed with my medical team. But who really knows if they're doing everything possible? So many decisions to be made regarding the type of surgery that is best. I have books to read, websites to visit, people to talk to, doctors to meet, support group meetings to attend.

To those of you who have read all this, thanks for coming along with me on this journey thus far. You are more loved and appreciated than you know.

Love,R