Cancer update

I was diagnosed with breast cancer exactly 3 months ago. Wow, so much has happened in such a short time! I had my 3rd round of AC on Monday and doing pretty well so far this week. I've been fatigued, but not quite as badly as I was after the last dose. Hopefully that will continue, but I am trying to take it easy. I only have one more round, which will happen on July 25! I can't wait to be done with this stage!

My oncologist ordered one more breast MRI and a brain MRI. I had the breast MRI today (#4 in 3 months!). I got to look at my scan and it looks like the tumor is about the same size as it was when I was first diagnosed. The means that it has shrunk since the last MRI, but also means that overall it has not shrunk much if at all. Of course, I am not a radiologist and am just guessing based on my what the MRI film looks like--we'll get the report in the next couple of days and know for sure.

I'll have the brain MRI tomorrow. The oncologist ordered it because I have been having a lot of headaches and he wants to make sure that the cancer has not metastasized to my brain. He says that it is unlikely, but he wants to be thorough. I am glad, though I am not thrilled about another MRI. I think that after this MRI, my ankles and toes are the only body parts that haven't been scanned!

After we get these scan results back, it will be time to meet with surgeons. I have met with one surgeon so far, when I was first diagnosed. At that point we decided that we should try chemo to shrink the tumor down. Again, on my guess, the tumor has not shrunk at all or at least not enough to make a difference. I do have one more round of chemo, so more shrinkage could happen. But, at the same time, I will have to wait for about 3-6 weeks after my last chemo dose before surgery, so my tumor could grow more (it grew during my 3 weeks on Taxol before). Who really knows!

I have thought a lot about what I want to do surgery wise and have done a lot of research. I have decided that I want to have a bilateral mastectomy, getting rid of both the cancerous breast and the other one. There is research supporting this decision based on my age and the type of cancer I have, but there is also research that would support a less aggressive treatment. For me, it comes down to not wanting to worry about recurrence and to keep my chances of that as low as possible. My tumor has proven itself to be aggressive and recurrence rates are generally measured in a per-year risk, meaning that my risk over my lifetime may be significant--or at least more significant than I am willing to risk. The anxiety and stress that worrying about it is not something that I want to have to deal with. I have thought about this for 3 months and done a lot of research and feel that this is the right decision for me. So, unless the surgeon has some powerful information to change my mind, that is what my plan is. I do plan on having reconstruction as well, though it will likely not be immediate. These surgeries are scary to me and will be a lot of work and recovery, but it seems like the right choice for me under the circumstances.

I am anxious to talk to the surgeon and get things set up, but am worried about all that is ahead of me as well. It is unclear whether I will need radiation or additional chemo after surgery. So, my mantra is one breath at a time.