Life in limbo...
Seems like there's always some kind of wait when dealing with a diagnosis. The original tumor was retested & found to be ER+! So perhaps I could've benefited from Tamoxifen from the beginning & not have to deal with this darn recurrence. Still waiting to hear why they missed it the 1st time around.
So I need to get results from testing more lymph nodes, which will be removed at the same time as my re-excision (which may happen this coming Friday or Monday). The tumor board at Sloan-Kettering last Tuesday recommended the re-excision w/radiation & tamoxifen, but chemo would be entirely up to me since there's no substantial evidence for a clear benefit to having more. Then the Kaiser tumor board which met on Thursday wants my surgeon to take out more lymph nodes to make sure there's no spread there -- so the CT scan wasn't useful for that. At least my breast MRI on the right side is clear. I need to try & do some more research on the issue of more chemo -- if it didn't work the 1st time, why go through the toxic effects again? My surgeon said that if I were her sister, she'd definitely want me to go for the chemo due to my (relatively young) age & the aggressive nature of my recurrence (1.5 cm & returning in about 2 years).
Another issue is whether to stay in San Rafael for a few more months -- need about a month to heal after the surgery & then undergo 6 wks of radiation (& possibly 3 mos. of chemo before that), then move to the San Jose area. It would be ideal to have all my care in this familiar area with support from friends & Pete's family, but also it would be great to have our own space & get settled sooner than later, in that case I'd have to set up a new team of providers & get used to the facilities over there.
I'm thankful Kailee is enjoying his day care -- we're lucky he's an adaptable kid & isn't afraid of new experiences & people. The couple that runs this in-home day care (only a mile from home) are always patient & cheerful. They go for walks outside & even have a van for field trips. I'm glad they're flexible with the variable 2 days/week plan thus far. Kailee doesn't even say good-bye when I leave!
So I need to get results from testing more lymph nodes, which will be removed at the same time as my re-excision (which may happen this coming Friday or Monday). The tumor board at Sloan-Kettering last Tuesday recommended the re-excision w/radiation & tamoxifen, but chemo would be entirely up to me since there's no substantial evidence for a clear benefit to having more. Then the Kaiser tumor board which met on Thursday wants my surgeon to take out more lymph nodes to make sure there's no spread there -- so the CT scan wasn't useful for that. At least my breast MRI on the right side is clear. I need to try & do some more research on the issue of more chemo -- if it didn't work the 1st time, why go through the toxic effects again? My surgeon said that if I were her sister, she'd definitely want me to go for the chemo due to my (relatively young) age & the aggressive nature of my recurrence (1.5 cm & returning in about 2 years).
Another issue is whether to stay in San Rafael for a few more months -- need about a month to heal after the surgery & then undergo 6 wks of radiation (& possibly 3 mos. of chemo before that), then move to the San Jose area. It would be ideal to have all my care in this familiar area with support from friends & Pete's family, but also it would be great to have our own space & get settled sooner than later, in that case I'd have to set up a new team of providers & get used to the facilities over there.
I'm thankful Kailee is enjoying his day care -- we're lucky he's an adaptable kid & isn't afraid of new experiences & people. The couple that runs this in-home day care (only a mile from home) are always patient & cheerful. They go for walks outside & even have a van for field trips. I'm glad they're flexible with the variable 2 days/week plan thus far. Kailee doesn't even say good-bye when I leave!
posted by goforsushi @ 2:48 PM
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