How do you spell relief?

BRCA 1 & 2 negative. That's how I spell it!!! That means less surgery for me, less risk for my sisters & niece, and we're ready to get moving on this. So, Dr. Alsop's office is going to get working to schedule my surgery, and when the doctor returns to the office on Monday, we'll get the plan finalized without additional visits to the surgeon's office. We're shooting for a lumpectomy on or about September 17.

Connie from Dr. Alsop's office called this afternoon to give me these results, and I actually remembered to ask her about the hormone receptors thing. As she explained it, the test assigns a number from 0 to 100; high indicates that the cancer used hormones for fuel whereas low indicates the hormones more likely caused the mutation in the gene that created the cancer. Luckily my score of 95 tells us that my cancer used my natural hormones as fuel to grow the cancer. It also indicates that aftercare with Tamoxifen or Renidex -- for five years after my treatment -- will help to squelch further spread of cancer by filling the receptors to remove fuel for any further cancer. Fortunately, Tamoxifen is a generic and not so pricey. But they're frequently use Renidex for 'post-menopausal' women -- which I'm counted as -- and it can be pricey. However, she said it's pretty easy to get into a study that would provide the appropriate drug I'd need. Another concern (lack of Rx insurance coverage) handled.

So, definitely surgery and around 35 radiation treatments; if I need chemo, she said we'd do that first and radiation second. The need for chemo will be determined by the aggressiveness and size of the cancer, and whether it's spread to the lymph nodes. She surprised me by saying they expect to pull lymph nodes from the axillary (underarm) nodes even though my lump is nearer my breast bone. She said the nodes near the breast bone are the inlet to the breast and the axillary nodes are the outlet from the breast, so that's where they'll expect to find cancer cells, if it has spread.

The lab will do a quick check of the first 2-3 nodes found while I'm still under anesthesia, and if they're positive, they'll pull a few more nodes for testing. If they're negative, it's less likely that the cancer has spread and would mean less of a chance I'd need chemotherapy. They will do a far more detailed test to double check, and I'll have those results about a week after surgery.

Another test that will probably be performed is onchotyping (spelling?), which examines the cancer cells to determine whether the cancer may be more likely to spread via the bloodstream. She expects the oncologist to request this, and positive would lean towards chemotherapy.

So, relieved, yes. Anxious, yes. Getting impatient, not so much. Better informed, definitely.

xoxoxo
Sharon