Decision Time

After a week to soak up all that this is...we met with the oncologist today and came away with a decision to make. The Dr. is recommending 4 chemo treatments, 3 week apart using TC. This is based on the characteristics of the cancer and how the tests have been so far....and the tests remaining. The other option on the board is mastectomy.

Janis has 'standard' cancer (intraductal carcinoma) with two areas 4 cm apart (both under 1.5cm). Dr. Osborne indicated the surgeon obtained good margins. The lymph nodes have not been checked yet (which is down the road). The 'FISH' test is being run on the blood to confirm if Janis is HER-2 positive. If so, this will add another liquor to the chemo cocktail, and two more cycles to the chemo treatment, but ultimately the same recommendation.

There is another test being run, checking for a genetic pre-disposition that links breast and ovarian cancer recurrences. This will take several weeks to get the results back and is quite expensive to have administered. Depending on the results, will determine future surgeries, but really have no affect on the short-term recommendation. Per Dr. O, the write-up will help influence the insurance company in approving this and he said he has written it up as needed.

Recommendation is for Chemo:

• place medi-port to ease with application of medication, taking blood, etc Next week.
• Start 4 cycles of chemo 3 weeks apart (TC Treatment -Taxol and cyclophosphamine) Thanksgiving week.
• After the chemo course, re-excise and check lymph nodes.
• Followed by radiation.

Special thank you to our medical receptionist Dondi! We really appreciate you being able to make it to the appointment, take some notes for us and help us get our questions in, and also to be able to talk about what we heard, compare to what you heard and come away feeling as good as could about the path ahead. Thanks again Dondi!