Time Flies

I just realized I haven't blogged in over 2 weeks! I just haven't really felt much like writing. I think it's lack of material. Or maybe I've just gotten bored with it after four years. I haven't decided yet if I want to put this blog to bed, so for now I just take little breaks here and there.

Everyone should be getting their prize packs by tomorrow. I gave all the contact info to Victor earlier this week, who sent the packs out the same day. If you were chosen as a winner, then be on the lookout for yours.

My recent tests went well. It seems I was worked up and nervous about nothing. Each scan came back clear. They didn't even detect any cysts on my liver like what was found last time. I'll follow up again in 4-6 months for more scans. It's a huge relief to know everything is still ok. I asked the doctor how long I've actually been in remission. I never knew if it technically began once I started Tamoxifen, or if it began once radiation was complete. Technically speaking, it began with my first clear scan following surgery to remove the tumor. Which was when I hoped it had started. That puts me at 1 1/2 years in remission--half way to the dreaded 3 year mark. Once I get passed 3 years I will feel better, though statistically speaking I won't be in the clear till I reach 5 years. After that, my chance for a recurrence goes down every year.

This is our last weekend with Danny here. He's feeling homesick, so he's going back to Vegas on Sunday. I can't believe that he's been here for 6 months already. Time really does fly! His leaving is going to be bittersweet. It will be nice to have the house back after all this time....will be able to walk down to the dryer in my panties and not worry about someone else being home. Yet, he's been such a HUGE help around the house. Ruben hasn't had to cut grass since spring, and I haven't done dishes in just as long. But I understand he's homesick and misses his momma. Believe me, I tried to talk him into staying till at least Thanksgiving, but he's been ready to go home for a while now. So tomorrow we're going up to Baton Rouge to take him out to the Cracker Barrel to eat.

His flight leaves early Sunday afternoon, so I had to ask a neighbor if they could watch Natalie cause Ruben & I will be going to the Saints game. This is our last game other than the Dallas game in December. Well, unless Ruben's friend gives us tickets to a game cause they can't make it--but with the season they are having, I doubt they will want to miss a game. Ruben still gets to go to one game with Dave, unless the boys let us wives go--which would be nice!! I looked into getting tickets for another game, but this season's home games are sold out. Those who are selling their unused tickets are asking way too much. I'd love to head up to St. Louis to catch them play the Rams, but with Danny leaving we have no one to watch Natalie. Maybe next year we can catch an away game.

The Results Are In....(drumroll)

This morning I had my appointment with my oncologist to get my PET scan results and ultimately find out if I will need to do chemo or not. I've been feeling pretty good about this - kinda like a new year, fresh start. I mean seriously - at some point your luck's gotta turn right?

My PET scan came back with the following findings:
Physiological activity is present within the brain, oropharynx, GI and GU tracts. Bilateral breast implants present. There is a 9mm lymph node adjacent to the posterior left lateral aspect of the breast implant demonstrating a mild FDG activity. Overall, no hypermetabolic findings within the head, neck, chest, abdomen, or pelvis.
Impression:
Mild FDG activity associated with a 9mm lymph node adjacent to the left breast implant. the CT portion of the exam demonstrates a normal fatty hilum within this nose and is felt to represent a benign lymph node. Overall, no hypermetabolic findings to suggest local or distant metastatic disease.

FDG has to do with the radioactive glucose they injected into me. My doctor isn't concerned with this lymph node finding - he also said my labs were great. He prescribed Tamoxifen and I go back in 4 months for blood work and another PET scan. We also talked about me moving forward with my breast reconstruction, which as soon as I see my PS I am hoping to be able to do just that. He suggested mentioning this lymph node to him, so when I go in to surgery to have the expanders replaced with implants he can take a look at what is there and see if it's a lymph node, scar tissue or possible tumor and either test it or remove it if needed. It's possible it could have been swollen or infected because of a recent cold or something and could be absolutely nothing at all. To be honest, I'm not really concerned with it. I am confident with my army of doctors and regular tests, that if it were anything to be worried about that it would be taken care of correctly and timely. So tomorrow I begin my Tamoxifen, today I just hope the side effects aren't all bad! Things are good! Tomorrow I'll call my PS and schedule an appointment and see when we can start my fills again now that I am finished with treatment. I'm anxious to get these boobs over with!

I want to thank everyone who has been praying for me or even keeping me in their thoughts. I appreciate all your concern! I'm positive this year is going to remain on a good course....besides, our luck is usually bad every other year - so this year should be good for us. I'm really hoping that now I can finally finish reconstruction and start a new chapter in my book of life...the one I've been waiting almost 4 years for - so fingers crossed that I get there.

Finally! The 3rd Time's a Charm...

I spent most of last night and all of my waiting time at the oncologists this morning sorting through medical records from multiple doctors. I finally weeded through them, sorted them, put them in order and destroyed the many, many dupes. My files ended up being reduced to nearly half of the original size - which made it way more easier to discuss the files with my new oncologist. I went in there with an open mind, hoping for reasonable treatment options. After all this was actually the 3rd oncologist I've seen, though I must say I had no issues with the original doctor - I was just told they had an office closer to my house so I switched offices. It was the doctor in that office that told me 6 months.

We reviewed my cancer history, pathology, and treatments. I explained to him what my last oncologist recommended, and why I disagreed. I told him what I was hoping to achieve and that I had no issues with doing chemo if it was really necessary - but that I could not see any reason why it would be. After listening and looking through my records he performed an exam, during which he asked me if I happened to be a nurse. I said no and asked why. He told me that I was very knowledgeable on the subject and asked how I came to be so. I explained to him how I work with some breast cancer communities writing, answering questions, and helping women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. He applauded my efforts for educating myself and helping others. I guess he doesn't get a lot of patients like me. I know all the ins and outs of my disease, but I tried real hard to make sure I didn't come off too strong. I didn't want him to think I was hard headed or would only do things my way. When I pointed out how Femara failed to do it's job of preventing my estrogen from binding with my cancer cells, he pointed out that it wasn't just the hormone therapy that failed me - chemo failed me as well. He told me that since chemo failed me and because I've already had a recurrence I am at a higher risk for it to return elsewhere in my body, but he agreed that doing chemo at this point is not the answer. Before he puts me on Tamoxifen he wants me to get another PET scan, which will show if I have any suspicious activity going on anywhere in my body. My last PET scan was clear but it had taken place back in April - a lot could have happened since then as I have not been on any AI meds. So providing that this next scan they are scheduling for the end of the month is clean and that my blood test is ok, he's totally in agreement with skipping chemo and going straight to hormone therapy. He even said that even if I hadn't requested this course of treatment, he still would have recommended it for me. If this scan comes back clean - and lets hope it does - all I would need to do is start a daily regimen of Tamoxifen, have my blood drawn quarterly to check the cancer markers, and get scans done every 6 months....and by scans I mean PET, Chest, Bone and/or Dexa scans. It looks like I just may have finally found the right doctor - how about that?

Finally The Wait Is Over

Yesterday I had my Chest CT Scan (both with & without contrast). I had to fast prior to the test, so afterwards I stopped at the hospital cafe and ate. Big mistake! It was awful tasting. Just a big waste of money. After leaving the hospital, I dropped off 2 comforters to be cleaned, filled up the Durango, and got it detailed. By time I got home I was beat. I sat down on my bed and literally passed out. That nuclear medicine they inject you with is something else. Kinda made me mad cause I missed the first half of the Lakers game. All that extra sleep messed me up anyway, causing me to wake up much too early this morning. With too much time on my hands, it left me up to no good - searching for old friends, or long lost relatives.....which isn't an easy task when you don't quite remember people's names or they have unlisted information. It's something I have done from time to time beginning with my 1st cancer, when chemo wiped my mind, and more often since my mother's death. Do you know how awkward it is to call a number that doesn't belong to who you thought it did? But it's hard to keep in touch when you move every 2 years - not to mention when the people you are trying to locate move every few years! Every now and then I get lucky and score, but more often I don't. So yeah I spent too much time surfing, but I was awaiting a call from Dr. L's office to let me know what my recent scan results were. It appears my results were ok, but I won't get the whole story till I see him. So I'm still not sure what he saw, and if it was indeed a lymph node. Hopefully I will find out more next week - that's when I start my daily radiation treatments for 7 weeks. I'm both nervous and excited about Monday, as I've never done radiation before. Then once I complete that treatment it's off to chemo. Luckily Ruben's mom comes in tomorrow night for 3 whole weeks. I can't wait; with losing my own mom I need her more than anything. Plus it sure will help when I'm exhausted from radiation and don't feel like cooking - when all I want to do is take a nap!

Sorry for the delay.....

There just isn't enough time in the day!

I'm not sure where exactly to start, so I guess let's go back to the headache that was Wednesday, which is the day I had my bone scan schedule for.
I get to the hospital after fasting for 12 hours. I have my blood drawn - which I later found out that the idiot doctor didn't order any cancer markers, just a CBC, so I ended up having to have more blood taken Monday.
I'm not sure why the lady from the doctor's office scheduled my tests for different days, but the radiology department managed to change things so that I could do my bone scan and chest ct scan both on the same day since I had a 3 hour wait time between the injection and actual bone scan - but at least I was allowed to eat during that time!
Afterwards, I ran upstairs to the doctor's office, got copies of my records and an order for the correct blood test.

Fast forward to Friday. I spent the whole day running errands - picking up my meds, and my test results.
To summarize my chest ct scan:
The left lobe of the Thyroid is larger than the right. A single subcentimeter low attenuation focus in the right lobe of the liver beneath the dome of the diaphragm, too small for characterization by this examination. Consider dedicated abdominal CT including liver protocol and/or ultrasound for further assessment. Splenule is noted incidentally in the left upper quadrant.
When looking online to find out what a "Splenule" is, I found that it is an additional Spleen.
The report also says no metastatic disease identified. As part of my blood test I had done today, a liver panel and a Thyroid test was part of it. Now I just have to have a abdominal ct scan done when I get in with my new doctor.

My bone scan results are:
Healing rib fracture on left side (think it may have accidentally been broken during reconstruction.) Osseous metastatic disease and degenerative changes should both be considered. Correlation with plain films or MRI examination of the lumbar spine is recommended for further evaluation.
Now I'm not going to jump the gun and freak out that I have metastatic bone cancer, cause quite honestly I think given my family history of osteoporosis and arthritis - and the fact that my cancer meds deplete the calcium from my bones, I am leaning to believe that it is degenerative problems, but again, I will have to wait till I get in with my new doctor and have more tests done.

As for the PET CT scan done today, well I just have to wait till the end of the week to get those results along with my blood results.

Wish me luck! I'll elaborate more about the weekend and the actual PET test later. Right now it's well past my bed time!

(Some) Results are in....

The results from my Bone Scan & Chest CT Scan are ready for me to go pick-up. I also have my blood test results, but the idiot surgical oncologist didn't screen for any cancer markers such as CA 27-29 - so Monday when I have my PET CT Scan I will have to do blood all over again.

Stay tuned, I will post results later - if I can interpret them!
I will also fill you in on all the hassles of the week to just GET the tests!