The Oncologist Update (5/20/10)

I found out I had breast cancer a mere seven days ago and already I feel like I could pass a medical exam with all the information we've been given.

Just met with the oncologist, Dr. Moran. Nice guy, soft spoken, very gentle (even if his cold hands made the girls perk up a bit- and on that note, it's kinda weird to be getting felt up all the time, guess I need to get used to that). Anyway, he didn't really give us much more information than we already had.

Here is the summary:
Cancer cells will either stay put or metastasize (spread to other parts of the body), the tricky thing is that they cannot determine whether cancer has spread. Back in the olden days they would ONLY do mastectomies, with no other therapies. That didn't work out very well- even with no breasts, women were developing breast cancer in other places - in the lungs, or other organs, etc - because it had spread. After doctors realized cancers were spreading undetected, they knew they had to get rid of the bad cells in another way. Enter chemotherapy- and other therapies, such as radiation, etc etc.

My cancer is contained in ONE spot, which is good (but still need chemo b/c of the potential spread of cells). It's also showing that my chances of recurrence are slim because of the hormone reactors/somethingsomething, also good. Instead of going STRAIGHT to mastectomy, there is a chance I could do the chemo FIRST and it would shrink my tumor enough for a lumpectomy (taking out the tumor instead of the entire breast).

So the question is how much higher are the risks that the cancer will come back if I chose a lumpectomy (assuming the chemo shrinks the tumor enough) over a mastectomy. The answer: Breast-conserving surgery has a only slightly higher chance of the cancer returning. Not to mention, for early-stage breast cancer, studies show that women who have breast-conserving surgery followed by radiation treatments have the same survival rates as women who have mastectomy.

I think I'd like this to be my plan of action. Chemo first (6 treatments, 3 weeks apart), then see if there is a chance I can preserve the boob. The beautiful thing about this is that the chemo treatments will be the same - regardless of whether I do them before surgery or after surgery.

NEXT PLAN OF ACTION:
PET Scan on Monday morning
Meet with Dr. Moran again Monday afternoon
Assuming we stick with the chemo-first plan, I'll get a port inserted on June 4th. And, I'll start chemo shortly thereafter. According the Dr. Moran my hair will fall out within 2 weeks and that's the PERFECT time for hats, anyway!

Perhaps I should get this little number?!?