Another Great Doctor Visit!

Today was my follow up with my Oncologist, Dr. O'Brien. The nurses took some blood so they could check all of my levels and make sure things were staying where they should after my first chemo treatment.

First things first.... I LOST 7 POUNDS in 1 week! :) Since I am currently not a petite person looking undernourished, I will take this as good news until further notice! :)

Dr. O'Brien told me that last week, several doctors, specialists, pathologists, etc met and had a round table discussion about my case. (Wow! I had my own round table!) Seriously though, I was impressed that my doctors and various providers all took time to make sure they were doing what was best for me. They also exchanged ideas on how best to move forward in my treatments. Pretty much everyone there was in agreement that given my age and the fact the tumor attached itself to the muscle, radiation would more than likely be needed after surgery to really add that extra layer of "protection" and make sure the cancer is all gone. I am okay with this, as I figure if I am going through this, let's get it all over with and do everything we have to in order to destroy the cancer in my body so that it thinks twice about wanting to mess with me again!

Another thing that came from the round table discussion was that Dr. O'Brien suggested the possibility of exploring the option of doing an Oncotype DX test. Usually these are done after surgery, but before chemo to aid in deciding if chemotherapy is needed or what treatment they would likely pursue. Since in my case, we did things in reverse order thanks to the tumor growing on the muscle, there is some discussion on whether I could benefit from this test still. Dr. O'Brien is going to check into this further with pathology to see if they can use tissue samples from my other biopsies and see if my insurance will cover this test as it is $3000. She would find a value in it if she can get approval because it will give her results to tell her they are doing the right chemo for me. If on the chance they do the testing and find out my score was way higher than expected, she said she may adjust the chemotherapy cycle after this next treatment to add another drug and do all 3 drugs for the last 2 scheduled chemo treatments as well as add 2 additional treatments. (So in otherwords, 6 total treatments vs. the 4 we had planned on.) There is nothing definite decided here yet as much hinges on if insurance will cover it and if pathology will have enough to go on from my other previous tests.

Another type of test I qualify for is a BRCA gene test. This will give us an indication if I have genes that are more prone to breast/ovarian cancer. Depending on the results from this test, it may indicate whether I have a gene that I could share with one of my immediate family members who could also carry the gene. This would include my brother, his son, and my kids. Nothing would be definite to say that this would guarantee they may be more or less prone to cancer, but Dr. O'Brien and I agree that having some answers regarding my genes may help someone else. This is able to be done through a blood draw that I had today, and they will send it in and wait for results.

As far as my side effects from the last week, none were considered out of the ordinary and we just talked about how this gives us an idea of how my body will react to different treatments and medications so we can be as prepared for the next round as possible. She gave me a prescription for special powder to counteract my itching in places we don't need to talk about here, and hopefully that will bring relief soon. :) I haven't had any other achiness or side effects for the last couple of days, so all is going well there. My white blood cell counts were at a high level still, likely from the recent Neulasta shot. She said usually about the 10-14 day post chemo mark is when I may see those numbers fall some, so later this week she wants me to be particularly vigilant about monitoring my temperature if anything seems off and keeping as bacteria free as possible during my time when counts would likely be at their lowest.

My next appointment with her is August 19, when she will check to see the approximate size of the tumor by measuring from the outside. This will give her a rough idea if things are shrinking at all, and when further ultrasounds may be needed.

Thank you for the emails of support you sent today! It was nice that so many were thinking of me during today's appointment! I felt it was a really good appointment and feel positive about where I am headed with Dr. O'Brien. I can't say enough good things about her!