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Hello All,
I was dx June 24, 2005 with invasive ductal carcinoma. Had a pet/ct scan July 7, 2005 which thankfully found no cancer anywhere in body other than right breast. I had a right breast mastectomy July 28, 2005. Pathology report said I was staged at a 2A, 4.5 cm tumor, margins clear, two sent. nodes removed (checked during surgery to determine whether more would be removed but told NO cancer) - however, when final report was done and breast and nodes were gone through MUCH more thoroughly, they did find evidence of one microcscopic cell in the first node. Second node was clean. I opted out of removal of more nodes. My oncologist and surgeon did NOT recommend going back in to remove more nodes (if that microscopic cell would have been found during the surgery they would have removed lots more nodes) and I agreed with them. I felt confident that with only 1 microscopic cell in the first node and the second node being clean that the other nodes would not be affected. HOWEVER, the radiation oncologist I met with later to discuss whether radiation would be something she recommended I do, DID recommend radiation. She said that having just one node only microscopically affected and second node being clean did not guarantee to her that other nodes were not affected. So.........I listened to her!!!! I was er/pr neg. but her2/neu positive - grade 3.
August 24, 2005 I started a dose dense regimin of chemo. I started with A/C bi weekly - then moved on to Taxol/Herceptin bi-weekly. (however herceptin was every 3 weeks) That all ended on Aug. 30, 2005. Herceptin continues every 3 weeks til Oct. 11, 2006. I began radiation right after Christmas 2005 and that ended beginning of Feb. 2006. I had a mammogram of left breast at that time and a calcification area they had been watching in the left breast concerned my docs so they wanted me to have that area biopsied. Thankfully it was all benign but I decided at that time I wanted that breast removed. So..............on March 7th I had my left breast removed also. Pathology said all was clean in that breast - thank God!
So........life goes on.
God Bless - marejo
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