What a week!
Monday I met with Dr. Edmiston. We went over my oncotype dx score which, as I already knew, confirmed her recommendation for chemo. We talked about Zoladex and infertility. Zoladex is a shot given to shut down the ovaries. It has shown to be effective in preventing the recurrence of breast cancer and most recently has been looked at in lowering the risk of infertility. The idea is that chemo is attacking any fast growing or active cells in hopes of wiping out any stray cancer cells. Well, if you shut down the ovaries, and make them inactive, hopefully chemo will have no effect on them. Hey, it worked on mice, or rats, whatever they tested it on... Unfortunately, it isn't proven to work with humans yet. So... no guarantee. But she was willing to give me the shot if I wanted it.
She asked me if I would participate in a clinical trial. Her recommendation was 4 treatments of AC (Adriamycin and Cytoxan). This clinical trial is looking at the difference between 4 and 6 treatments and also AC vs Taxol.
So, I left the office knowing that I would be doing chemo but still not decided on the regimen. - Oh yeah, and if I wanted to do the clinical trial I couldn't do the Zoladex.
She also gave me a list of places to go for wigs...
Tuesday I tried on some wigs.
I ordered the Joe Dirt special. In cappuccino, of course. Heh, just kidding. Actually, I wasn't ready to pick one - they were all just so fabulous! And totally me.... bleh.
Wednesday I had my appointment at Dana Farber. I met with Dr. Erica Mayer. She went over the pathology report prepared by Brigham & Women's. There was a minor difference. My new pathology report states Focal lymphovascular invasion IS identified. My pathology report from UMass said it was not identified. Not a big deal. "Breast cancers have a blood supply like normal tissue and organs. Tumors also have lymphatic channels running through them, which serve as a circulatory system in the body for tissue fluid and proteins separate from the blood circulation. If cancer cells under the microscope appear to invade into the blood vessels or lymphatic channels of the tumor, the possibility that cancer cells have spread to the lymph nodes or other areas in the body increases. This is called lymphovascular invasion or LVI." But, my lymph nodes were clear - so all is well.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Mayer agreed with Dr. Edmiston's recommendations. She recommended a few other clinical trials and also urged me to look into fertility options.
My mom bought me a few hats and a scarf on our way out - thanks mom.
So, I made some phone calls... Blue Cross doesn't cover fertility treatments, because, well, I'm actually fertile right now. But for an arm and a leg, I can take one of my eggs and Ian's sperm and make a little blob to freeze and use in the future if need be. Ummm. weird.
So, anyway, with Ian's blessings, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping I'm in the 80% group that doesn't lose ovarian function.
Thursday - Chemo day.
She asked me if I would participate in a clinical trial. Her recommendation was 4 treatments of AC (Adriamycin and Cytoxan). This clinical trial is looking at the difference between 4 and 6 treatments and also AC vs Taxol.
So, I left the office knowing that I would be doing chemo but still not decided on the regimen. - Oh yeah, and if I wanted to do the clinical trial I couldn't do the Zoladex.
She also gave me a list of places to go for wigs...
Tuesday I tried on some wigs.
I ordered the Joe Dirt special. In cappuccino, of course. Heh, just kidding. Actually, I wasn't ready to pick one - they were all just so fabulous! And totally me.... bleh.
Wednesday I had my appointment at Dana Farber. I met with Dr. Erica Mayer. She went over the pathology report prepared by Brigham & Women's. There was a minor difference. My new pathology report states Focal lymphovascular invasion IS identified. My pathology report from UMass said it was not identified. Not a big deal. "Breast cancers have a blood supply like normal tissue and organs. Tumors also have lymphatic channels running through them, which serve as a circulatory system in the body for tissue fluid and proteins separate from the blood circulation. If cancer cells under the microscope appear to invade into the blood vessels or lymphatic channels of the tumor, the possibility that cancer cells have spread to the lymph nodes or other areas in the body increases. This is called lymphovascular invasion or LVI." But, my lymph nodes were clear - so all is well.
Not surprisingly, Dr. Mayer agreed with Dr. Edmiston's recommendations. She recommended a few other clinical trials and also urged me to look into fertility options.
My mom bought me a few hats and a scarf on our way out - thanks mom.
So, I made some phone calls... Blue Cross doesn't cover fertility treatments, because, well, I'm actually fertile right now. But for an arm and a leg, I can take one of my eggs and Ian's sperm and make a little blob to freeze and use in the future if need be. Ummm. weird.
So, anyway, with Ian's blessings, I'm crossing my fingers and hoping I'm in the 80% group that doesn't lose ovarian function.
Thursday - Chemo day.
posted by Christina @ 5:30 PM
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