Merry Christmas!

This past week was difficult. Monday I had my pre-op physical and blood work. The reality and imminence of surgery hit me. Thursday was my original surgery date before we had to reschedule due to conflicts in the doctors' schedules. In a way, I wish that we had been able to keep the date so that I would already be on my recovery path and closer to having the complete plan for treatment. But as I look at it today with Christmas Eve tomorrow, I'm glad that I will have a normal celebration with Todd and the kids.

It will be just us, and that's ok. I've become consumed with staying well prior surgery. We've got a little cold bug running through the house that we need to kick and then stay well. Don't be offended if I keep my distance or decline invitations in the next two weeks. I've waited long enough and I need to get started on the road to recovery.

I am very thankful for such a great year, in spite of my diagnosis. The abundance of thoughts, prayers, and offers of help have been, frankly, overwhelming. All of support from my new co-workers, so many people that I have reconnected with, my dear friends that have come together and organized help for me after surgery - you all are incredible and I am thankful to have you. My family has been amazing. My kids are sweet and strong. I wear the pink bracelet Sarah gave me that says 'Courage' on it on the days I need extra encouragement. Todd is my rock and my biggest cheerleader. I am blessed and you all are my gifts this Christmas. Love to all of you and have a blessed Merry Christmas.

Jennifer

Treatment - What I Know Today

My doctor has initially recommended a combination of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The exact treatment will be determined after I have surgery. An Oncotype DX test is done on the tumor. This test quantifies the likelihood of recurrence in estrogen receptor positive, early-stage breast cancer patients and assesses the likely benefit  of certain types of chemotherapy. Radiation would follow after chemotherapy and I would go 5 days per week for 5 weeks.

Surgery Details

Surgery is scheduled for January 3rd, 2013. I will be home resting for 6 weeks.

I've elected to have a lumpectomy. This is a breast conserving procedure. The lump and a surrounding amount of good tissue (margin) is removed. The goal is to remove all of the cancer but conserve as much good tissue as possible.

There will also be a sentinel node biopsy of the lymph nodes. A dye is injected into the lump and then they track which lymph nodes it drains to. Those are the first nodes to biopsy. If they are clear of cancer cells, that is all that happens with the lymph nodes. If there are cancer cells, then they will biopsy the axillary nodes to check for further spreading.

Additionally, I have decided to have a hysterectomy (uterus removal) and an oophorectomy (ovary removal). I have a history of ovarian cysts that are very painful and there wouldn't be anything my doctors could do about these while I am going through treatment. Stopping them from developing was done by taking oral birth control. But the pill contains estrogen, so I have had to stop taking them. Removing the ovaries eliminates the primary source of estrogen in my body thus reducing the availability of food for any cancer cells bouncing around.

Pathology

These are the details of my breast cancer.

• Invasive ductal carcinoma (starts in a milk duct and invades the surrounding breast tissue)
• Stage 1A (caught early)
• Grade 2 (size is between 1.1 and 2cm - mine is 1.9cm)
• Estrogen receptor positive 90% (feeds off estrogen) 
• Progesterone receptor positive 40% (feeds off progesterone)
• HER2/neu negative (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 negative means slow growing)
• BRCA1 mutation negative (hereditary breast cancer)
• BRCA2 mutation negative (hereditary breast cancer)