Details (not for the faint of heart :))

I've had several inquiries regarding my doctor's visit last week. So I'll give everyone an update on what I know at this point.....if you're not into the details, just skip to the last paragraph :).

First some background: When a surgeon removes a tumor from the breast, she never sees the tumor. She keeps a cushion of good tissue between the knife and the tumor. Then she sends the entire bundle to the pathologist. The best result is that there are no cancer cells on the surface of the good tissue, or even close the the edges (margins) of the good tissue.

During surgery, my surgeon discovered that part of the tumor was very close to my skin. But the pathologist report shows that it was closer than she had first expected. There was also a separate ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) near the outer margin of the good tissue. DCIS's are not truly cancer, but are considered pre-cancerous. So, she would like to go back in for a second surgery which would remove a bit of the skin which was close to the tumor and more of the breast tissue where the DCIS was. At this time, the possible date for this would be the Wednesday or Friday before Christmas.

Because the lymph nodes are negative, I am considered Stage 1. That is good news! The biggest concern, however, is the type of cells that were growing in the tumor (Estrogen/Progestrone positive, Her2/FISH positive). Cancer cells can spread both through the lymphatic system and the circulatory system. I've been researching some of this on my own, but I pressed my surgeon for more information. I want to be as prepared as I can with questions when I meet with the oncologist. From my surgeon's experience, she expects that the oncologist will recommend 6 treatments of chemotherapy (possibly taxol, cytoxan, and herceptin over a 12 week period), followed by radiation for 6 weeks, followed by a year of Herceptin (a chemo drug given every other week) and 5 years of Tamoxifen (a pill taken once/day). Of course, she's not certain since she's not an oncologist. The only reason she gave me this information was because I pressed her for the information (I add this so that anyone reading this doesn't get upset with her.)

Through the research I've done, I expected that they would recommend chemotherapy of some type. So this news was not a complete shock to me. I apologize to those family members and friends who may have felt mislead by my use of the words 'very treatable.' But the truth is this is VERY treatable. That is how I see it. Hey, who knows what the oncologist may say when I see him next week? Maybe he'll have some alternative ideas, or another perspective. Regardless of what he says, I know that I am in God's hands. I continue to rest in Him.

Well, I've given a lot of details. I think it's better to keep you informed than to have you wondering what's going on. I've shared a lot of my thoughts and those of my surgeon, but I want to end with these words from Isaiah 55:8-12, concerning the Lord I serve.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord.
"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. YOU will go out in JOY and be led forth in PEACE; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."