Post Surgical Update

 

In order to give a cancer update, we need to look at where things were prior to surgery versus after surgery:

Factor	Before surgery	After surgery
Spread of cancer past the tumor	PET Scan- no indications of cancer past the tumor	Breast tissue removed during surgery was sent to a lab for further testing.  They found several (>7) microscopic cancer pockets outside of the tumor.  In addition, 2 lymph nodes were removed and tested.  Once lymph node had microscopic cancer cells.  The other did not.  The lymph node system is the highway for cancer to spread to other areas of the body.
Cancer Stage - Caught in early stages	0 - 1a	1a - Stayed in early stages.  Sometimes people go from 01- to a 3 or 4.  This was pretty good.
Cancer Grade - Generally, a lower grade indicates a better prognosis. A higher-grade cancer may grow and spread more quickly and may require immediate or more aggressive treatment.	1 - very low grade	3 - still a low grade

So, now what?

Well, it wasn't exactly the news I was hoping for, but I'm grateful that the cancer is still confirmed to be in early stages because my overall prognosis is very, very good and hasn't changed.  However, the treatment plan to keep that very good prognosis has changed. 

Due to the microscopic cancer in the lymph node, I will have to go through a course of radiation treatment.  In addition further genetic testing will be done on the cancer in the lymph node.  Depending on the proteins make up they find, I may have to do a course of chemotherapy as well.  It will take a couple of weeks to get the results to determine if chemotherapy is necessary.  The 2 paths look like:

Option	Course of Treatment
Test results indicate no Chemo	·         Heal from surgery for a couple of week ·         Do radiation which will be 5-8 weeks ·         Additional surgeries as needed
Test results indicate Chemo	·         Heal from surgery for a couple of week ·         Do the chemo treatment which will be several months ·         Do radiation which will be 5-8 weeks ·         Additional surgeries as needed

So, in either case, the current focus for the next couple of weeks is to heal from surgery and that's what I'll be doing!