Let the Breast Cancer Battle Begin

Since I last wrote and posted on January 23rd, I have had several different appointments with doctors, some tests, and a procedure. So here is the update:

On January 31st I met my breast surgeon, Dr. Susan Mahany. She told me that my cancer is what is called Triple Negative Breast Cancer, and it is an invasive ductal carcinoma. What does that mean? Well, the invasive ductal carcinoma part is pretty easy. It means that the cancer started in one of my milk ducts, and then has invaded the surrounding tissue. The Triple Negative thing is a little more complex. Basically, researchers have identified certain hormones that fuel breast cancer. Estrogen, progesterone, and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (known as HER2) are the three main ones on the list. They can test the cancer cells and see which of these is acting as fuel, if any. If the cancer is feeding on estrogen, it is ER+ cancer, but if not, it's ER- cancer. Same thing for progesterone (PR+ or PR-) and the HER2 (+ or -).  My cancer does not feed on any of the three, so it is ER-, PR- and HER2-, or triple negative.  The first course of treatment will be chemotherapy, but more on that in a minute.

First, I went on Wednesday, February 5th and had an MRI done of my breasts. Not pleasant, in any way. Two different women at Candler hospital, the receptionist in the imaging center and the lady who runs the little coffee shop, both gave me words of encouragement and healing from the Lord, and I now know two sisters in Christ whom I did not previously know. My MRI results showed that the tumors in my breast and lymph node nearly doubled in size in three weeks. Yikes! No wonder they are hurting pretty much constantly.

Then, on Friday, February 7th, I met with my oncologist, Dr. Jennifer Yanucci. She is wonderful. She explained the whole chemo protocol to me. (explained below)

On Monday, February 10th, I went in early in the morning for my pre-op screening, an EKG, and blood work. That all went smoothly. Then on Thursday, February 13th, I underwent surgery to have my port-a-cath placed. It is now healing and will enable me to start chemo this Thursday, February 20th. While I was in recovery I also had an echocardiogram to make sure that my heart is strong and healthy enough to withstand doxorubicin, also known as Adriamycin, a.k.a. The Red Devil. It will be one of two drugs that I get first. Just to keep us all on our toes, each drug has a generic name and then one or more brand names. Here is the protocol:

First, 4 cycles of dose-dense Adriamycin (doxorubicin) and Cytoxan (cyclophosphamide) and a 'cycle' means an infusion every two weeks, with monitoring of  my blood counts and health in between infusions. This will start this Thursday and, if all goes well, end April 2nd.

Then, 12 weeks/cycles of Taxol (paclitaxol) infusions once a week, and Carboplatin (I have only heard one name for this one!) every three weeks during the 12 weeks of Taxol. I don't know if they'll start this whole part of the protocol on April 9th or on April 16th, but if all goes well, I will be done with chemo either the last week of June or the first week of July.

Within the next few weeks, I'll be undergoing genetic testing to see if my cancer is genetically linked to the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. If it is, I'll need to undergo a bilateral mastectomy. If it's not, then I'll have to make a decision about whether to have a lumpectomy or a one-side mastectomy or a bilateraly mastectomy. This will be incredibly difficult for me.

So, let the battle begin! I'm gearing up mentally for my first chemo treatment, and praying that, if the Lord wills, I will tolerate it well.

More soon from the frontlines of the war.