|
I had to step back from this a little. I was feeling a little overwhelmed. I guess I did not make my first post clear. I really was hoping that by sharing my story I could help prevent someone else from making the mistakes I did at the beginning. I should have insisted on a better surgeon instead of going to the one the health department set me up with and I should have insisted on a liver biopsy. What I need to know is what to expect after surgery, how often are follow up tests performed? What tests? Lani, I will look into the CTC test this week.
I do appreciate the information and the concern. Flori, thank you so much for the offer. I live in Mississippi and because I was uninsured (self-employed and uninsurable due to some other health problems) I am on Medicaid. I am not sure what they will pay for. I really need to get things back as close to normal as I can as soon as I can because I am self-employed. And to stay sane.
I could get more opinions and take more time but in the end there aren't that many options. If I were to have another lumpectomy, that would cause inflammation as surely as a mastectomy will. So, it seems that I have two options, in reality, no matter how many second opinions I get. One is surgery; one is to stay on herceptin indefinitely. Neither one is a perfect solution. The first one gives me hope, even though it may be false hope. The second one is an acceptance of metastatic cancer that I am not ready for. In a sense I have had a third opinion. My surgeon is a surgical oncologist. I will look into my options further but I am okay with this decision as the best one under the circumstances. Hope I am making sense. Yesterday I was panicky. I have been so calm throughout all of this but yesterday I lost it.
Leslie
Lesle
|