Today we had a meeting with the surgeon and the oncologist. The final results of the biopsy/surgery were complete. It appears they removed all of the cancer. The margins were clear and the lymph nodes were clear. The second suspicious spot turned out not to be cancer. There was just the one tumor that measured 1.3cm. I am at stage 1, which means we caught it early.
The oncologist does recommend I do chemotherapy. Even though it seems the cancer has been removed, there could still be a cancer cell somewhere that they want to make sure to get rid of. The oncologist we met with today recommends a combination of 2 drugs (docetaxel/taxotere and cyclophosphamid/cytoxan). I would get it 4 times total – once every 3 weeks = 12 weeks total. Most likely that will begin around the middle of November.
We plan to get a second opinion in Austin and hopefully be able to do the chemotherapy there.
Oh, and we got the results back from the gene test a few days ago. I do have the BRCA1 gene mutation, which was not a surprise.
Overall, I feel really good about the news we got today. It was the best possible outcome.
My pain is a lot better now. It’s more of a discomfort than pain. I’m just alternating Tylenol and Advil and that seems to be enough to keep things under control. I’m still very tired, but I can tell that’s getting better too.
Thanks again for all of your emails, thoughts, prayers, etc.
Rachel
