MD Anderson Visit: Imagery & Surgical Consult

We got started a little late on Tuesday, so we had to drive in some traffic.  I say we, but since I don’t do Houston traffic, Felicia drove to MDA.  Maybe I will have my nerve up to drive back this afternoon.

When we got here we had to fill out miles and miles of paperwork, I guess it is a necessity, but man. What a pain!  Out first stop after the paperwork was for Felicia to get anther mammogram done.  I could tell Felicia was not looking forward to that, of course who is?  Felicia says with all of the squeezing and squishing that goes on, it is unpleasant to say the least!  Next was something called an “us, breast with FNA”.  I think this was the ultra sound.  Seemed pretty simple, we had one when the girls were born…but this one takes on a whole new meaning with you have cancer involved!  Both of these were for testing, we didn’t know anything new when we left.  Good news for Felicia, I got up the nerve to drive back out to Waller in all the Houston traffic!

Wednesday we got in to see the oncological surgeon.  Well technically, we saw her last.  First was the nurse, who did the initial interview.  Then came in the PA, she got more in depth and started throwing big words at us.  When she was done, in came the surgeon.  She addressed some of the same things as the PA and spoke to us about the options.  She said that the cancer is estrogen and HER2 positive.  So the lumpectomy with the radiation has about the same odds of success as a full mastectomy.

This is the plan:

Surgery ( lumpectomy) on March 24, then once she heals from that…about 4 weeks….she does six months of chemo (Doc says about 90% of the patients have to go through chemo, it is up to the medical oncologist).  Once the chemo is done, she does the radiation (which is five days a week for six weeks). 

This is a lot to take in and I’m sure some of the details are not quite right, so below is an email Felicia sent out probably with some of the same info.

Good evening.

Just wanted to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers as I went to MD today to meeting with the doctors.  What a place!!  Man they have all the procedures and appointments down to a fine art – thank God I  am at the best place.

I really like my doctor – she met with us today for about an hour and a half making sure we had all the information we needed…. And maybe a little too much.. LOL!  There was a lot to soak in.

I will be having surgery on the 24^th of March to remove the mass and the tissue around it (about 2 ½ centimeters) at that time if the medical oncologist agrees I will also have a port put in.   After healing from that (about 4 weeks) I will begin chemo treatment for about 6 months, when done with that I will begin a 6 week treatment of radiation – which is 5 days a week.  There is a very small possibility that I will not have chemo – my doctor tells me that the final decision is made by the medical oncologist.  The driver in that decision is that I was positive for HER2, which is a marker for the type of cancer.  She feels very certain that I will be having the chemo treatment.

Lots of info today – I am sure there is more to come… but we are just taking it one day at a time.  Thanks again for all your continued prayers and positive thoughts.  

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4;4-7

She says that since we have waited so long to see the doctors, she is ready to just get moving on this whole thing!  I agree, funny how once you turn it all over to the Lord how much less stress is involved!  I cannot imagine how someone that doesn’t know the Lord can get through this without a stroke!  I know I stressed pretty good before I gave it up to the Lord, but he caught my heart with Philippians 4:4-7. 

So through all this, all I can say is “His will, not mine”.  Please continue with your prayers, God has a plan and I eagerly await him to reveal it to us.