My surgeon's job is local control (right breast). From his perspective, the results were AWESOME! I left that hospital right breast cancer free! Yay! Happy dance. I was happy, but kind of expected those results since I left the hospital without a right breast, but apparently, that's not always the case. WIN! But there was another piece of info received from the pathology that had me all worked up and a bit nervous...the cancerous breast tumor removed measured 3.1 cm (the MRI I had done a couple of weeks ago measured 1.95 cm). Bigger. Yikes. So, didn't want to get any of your panties in a wad like mine were about this news until I heard back from my oncologist about what all of this means regarding systemic cancer treatment (my whole body and future prognosis, not just my right breast right now).
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| Thought I would break this boring cancer stuff up for a sec with a pic of our awesome kid. He put on Auntie Maaya's boots (on the wrong feet!) and asked for a cape like Super Grover. haha. |
1. We made the absolute right decision about cutting chemo short and going straight to surgery
2. Although the imaging that I had done indicated size changes in my breast tumor when compared to the pathology reports, these are not necessarily accurate comparisons because of different tools used and people doing the measuring. The real indication of changes in the tumor were his examinations and my own descriptions. Thank God I'm not afraid of being the annoying crazy lady who tells people and asks questions about things that sound paranoid and very unlikely. I was told once the treatment started working it would be highly unlikely for my cancer to grow back, but I knew something was different. If I would not have pushed this and my team was not quickly responsive, we may have been too late in our opportunity to remove my tumor and my lymph nodes may not have been clear. We might have been back to square one or worse. Thank you God for the 'Don't Worry' lesson. Although it sounds counter productive, sometimes the only way I can alleviate my anxiety is to just ask the silly question that's bothering me (over and over) and sometimes this has involved forcing breast exams on any professional (or friend!) I can get to feel my boobies. haha.
3. It's amazing news that my nodes were free of cancer. In November, I had cancerous lymph nodes. The treatment was effective against these cells. Breast cancer travels from the breast to the lymph nodes and from there to metastatic cancer (lesions in other parts of the body-lungs, bones, brain, etc.). The pathology showed my nodes were free of cancer which indicates that any cancer cells that may have traveled outside of my nodes would have been an even smaller volume and have most likely been killed also.
4. My chemo summary...what has likely happened is that my cancer had a good response to A/C drugs, but there were still cells living after that drug was completed and during my Taxol infusions, those cells survived and started to grow again. My cancer is resistant to A/C and T treatments.
5. Even though I might not have any cancer cells floating around anywhere in my body, we are still pursuing additional systemic chemo treatment. It might not be treatment that is necessary, but no one's willing to take that risk. I have not completed a standard chemo treatment yet because we cut mine short for surgery and I have a very aggressive cancer that was not fully responsive and resistant to the treatment I did receive. There is a chance that these cells are still in my body. Following chemo treatment, he is also recommending radiation therapy in my right breast.
6. Dr. Jim was in contact with several professionals and breast cancer centers around the state after receiving my pathology reports to research and cover our bases on all of the options out there that are possible for treating triple negative breast cancer that is resistant to both A/C and T (I haven't done a ton of reading on this site, so not sure if recommended, but if you're interested, here's a link and you can print a file about triple negative breast cancer). There are options that Dr. Jim can offer to me at his facility, but there are also options that may serve me better that would be available somewhere else. There are also clinical trials that are out there. It's all still up in the air. I have a formal appointment with Dr. Jim on Monday to have a heart to heart about where to go next with all of this (I wonder if he will be relieved that I will no longer be requesting that Righty get a pat down during our visits?!). Again, we are feeling very very fortunate to be in such a good position moving on to this next phase of treatment and also to have options!!!
7. We have some time before we will make our next move on this decision because I have 4 more weeks post-operative time before I can take any chemo drugs so my body can recover fully from surgery and be ready to take on the drugs. Woohoo. A month's vacay :) Bone broth, green juice and maybe a few glasses of wine on a patio are definitely in my future!
That was a mouthful. It always shocks me how much happens so fast with all of this cancer business and really, just life in general.
Surgery recovery update...
I'm feeling GREAT! Had tons of help with Austin this week. I'm still a bit sore, but switched to taking an Aleve in the morning and one at night once I came home for pain and haven't had much else to complain about (other than how annoying the drains are and can't wait to get rid of them so I can sleep on my stomach again!). I can move around and do about anything I need done around here...just a bit slower than I used to :) After getting over the overwhelming feeling of not knowing exactly what's next, I got my act together this weekend and spent some watching bad movies with 'Line and Stinky, time at the market with mom and outside on the patio reading and enjoying the awesome Austin spring weather.
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| Poor Aunt Boogie just trying to enjoy a nice after school video game break. haha. Did I mention she's Austin's favorite person in the world?! |
Will keep you posted on happenings at the Kinchen house after all of my Monday follow up appointments!
Love-
Jenn
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