Monday, June 10 - I got up this morning, showered and went to put on my make-up. I walked out to the living room and asked Dane if he did something to my eyebrow? He just chuckled. You have to understand that Jacob came home one night with one eyebrow after losing a bet with his friends. They shaved off one of his.
I had noticed a little bit of thinning the past few weeks, but hadn't been wearing any make-up so didn't pay too much attention. It was gone. The other one had about 12 strands, so I just pulled them out with my fingers. I also noticed I barely have any eyelashes. BUT, the hair on my head is growing back. Touch it and you get whisker burn. Ha!
Now on to the visits today. We first saw the surgeon. I am healing fine and the numbness and soreness I am feeling is normal for where I am post surgery. She went over the pathology report with me. I again asked if all the lymph nodes under the armpit were removed. She said yes. I told her I was surprised that there were only 10. It seems that the chemo I had before surgery shrunk up what others would have been in the tissue that she removed. If the pathologist went back and looked again under the microscope, there probably would have been more just very, very small. Chances of cancer returning on the left side are about 20%. The only way of knowing if this does happen (and I'm believing that it won't) would be if I felt a lump.
She recommended that I go to Physical Therapy for my range of motion and to learn more about Lymphedema and how to prevent it. I have an appointment Friday here in Union. Yay, close to home!
*Lymphedema is a build-up of lymph fluid in the fatty tissues just under your skin. It usually develops slowly over time. The swelling can range from mild to severe. It can start soon after surgery or radiation treatment. But it can also begin months or even many years later. Women who have many lymph nodes removed and women who have had radiation therapy for breast cancer have a higher risk of getting lymphedema.
I will follow-up with Dr. O in August so she can check to see if I'm healing as I should. I will then see her every year for my preventive screening on the other breast.
On to Dr. Coplin's office. At first she seemed concerned about having 9 of the 10 lymph nodes with cancer. After looking more closely at the pathology report, it stated that the 2.5 cm mass removed from the central breast area contained widely scattered individual and small clusters of large cells. The largest of these cells measuring 0.5 mm in diameter. That, folks, is pretty small. It also means the chemo beforehand did it's job. So we will continue with chemo.
At my last visit with her we evidently had a mis-communication I thought she said 6 weeks of weekly Taxol. But it will be 12 weeks at a lower dose with no injection the day afterwards. The other option is 8 sessions every other week at a higher dose with the Nueulasta injection the day after.
I have opted to go with the weekly and get started tomorrow, then have another one the following week. I will then take the following week off and resume the first week of July which will be after the wedding. I will also take a break during vacation at the end of July.
My biggest fear is getting that Hand & Foot Syndrome again. It was pretty painful and I just couldn't do things with my hands. She said with Taxol it is more of a nerve ending or neuropathy effect. My hands have recovered but my feet are still peeling. So time will tell how I react to this drug. If we need to, we can go to the every other week schedule.
Needless to say I was really bummed because now radiation will probably be pushed off until October. I thought I was going to be finished with all this by then. So now that I have wrapped my mind around this, I am ready to move forward, it's just going to be longer than I thought.
No comments:
Post a Comment