The Hunstman Cancer Institute

Here is my post on facebook yesterday for all the details from my visit:

Today was great, but a very long day. We spent 5 hours at the Hunstman Cancer Institute. I love my Doc--Leigh Neumayer--she is FABULOUS. Over my 5 hours I agreed to participate in 2 clinical trials, talked with genetic counseling about the possiblity of a genetic component to my cancer, had 2 breast exams, had a lymph node biopsy under ultrasound performed (the swollen one from the MRI), decided to in fact do the mastectomy, scheduled a visit with the plastic surgeon Jay Agarwal for the 23rd to discuss reconstruction, tenatively scheduled surgery for the 30th of January, and officially won the award for the most vials of blood drawn at one time for testing. What a day!So, now for the plan.

Once again I get to wait on a test result. The results from the lymph node biopsy should be back by early next week. If it is positive for cancer cells that means that the cancer is more likely to have spread or be on it's way to spreading to other parts of my body. In that case, Leigh thinks it would be better to do chemo first rather than surgery. Her rational being that because I have chosen to do a mastectomy, I would have to wait a minimum of 4 weeks before starting chemo (this is to allow for adequate healing before the chemo would start killing the cells trying to heal the tissue) and that is without any complications should they arise. Leigh feels that the time for mastectomy healing should a lymph node be positive would be too much time for the cancer to find another place in my body to "set up house" so to speak. If the biopsy comes back negative we will proceed with surgery first on the 30th and then have chemo to follow about a month later. Radiation will all depend on the presence of cancer in the lymph nodes.

We also decided to get some genetic testing done to determine if I have the BRCA 1 or 2 genes that contributed to my breast cancer. This highly affects the probability of having a separate breast cancer in my opposite breast in the future. It will also have implications for my sister and daughter. Those results should be back in 2 weeks. Long day, but good.

I had a friend leave me this quote in an email yesterday..... it shed a little bit of light:

"Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more (see Prov. 3:11–12). He therefore gives you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain." --Elder Richard G. Scott