One of a kind!

I apologize for such the long lapse in my blogging.  Life has been crazy!!

I had my lumpectomy on 6/8/2010 and two lymph nodes removed.  The nodes came back negative and the entire tumor was removed with clear margins.  PRAISE GOD!!

With each passing day, I am getting stronger and feeling better...  Thankfully my mother-in-law has come to town to help us.  It would have been very difficult without her here.

Today we met with my oncologist to discuss the pathology report and where do we got from here....  Well, we learned A LOT today!  To say I am a unique case is an understatement.

When I was first diagnosed with cancer, my HER2 results came back equivocal.  They sent the biopsied samples out for further analysis and those came back HER2+.  My basic understanding of what HER2 indicates the aggressiveness of the cancer.  If yours comes back positive, you have an additional medication you can add to your arsenal of drugs to help treat and fight the disease.  Since the coding on mine had come back positive, Herceptin was started.

Herceptin is a wonderful drug, however it can cause problems with your hearts ability to function.  During treatment, they have been monitoring me using a MUGA Scan.  You heart function can decrease up to 15% and still be within normal levels.  We found out today that my heart function has dropped 14.8%.  Also, the pathology report from my surgery and that of my biopsies showed different findings.  The surgery pathology report shows me now being HER2-.  With this being the case, my doctor did not give me Herceptin today.  I go back on July 20th for another MUGA Scan to see where I am percentage wise.  Being that I am not a definitive HER2+ anymore, Chris & I have been discussing cutting this drug out, especially after seeing its effects on my heart.  Our oncologist, Dr. Jenkowitz, is going to run this by her team of colleagues to get opinions on the matter.  Typically once they get a positive, they always treat it as a positive since Herceptin induced congestive heart failure is reversible with drugs.

On July 20th, after my MUGA scan, I start chemo again.  (And most likely loose all the fuzz I've worked hard at growing).  The game plan is to do three weeks of Abraxane to finish out the six I was supposed to have initially gotten.  I only had three chemo treatments and then surgery.  There is no guarantee that some microscopic cancerous cell is out there floating around, waiting to find a nice spot to call home and multiply.  So our thoughts, and the thought of our doctor, is that if I am up to it - we finish what we started.  Excellent point and well noted... 

Keeps us in your prayers as we go forward.  I hope that my body will be fully healed by July 20th and we fly through three weeks of chemo with no problems, issues, or hospitalizations!  I am happy to be finally able to say I am dancing with NED!!!  (For those not familiar with the chemo language this means that as of right now, I am showing No Evidence of Disease = NED.)