Breast Cancer, The Journey Continued

Breast Cancer, The Journey Continued

Monday  Morning  April, 18  2011   (seventh post in this series).

Pat and I have been aware of the process that Kelly (and Damon) have been going through in terms of what surgery option they will select.  We have waited for them to formally present their decision.  The following is their email post:


Hello Family and Friends!

It’s been a while since we wrote – we’ve been enjoying a bit of a lull between appointments.

We had a wonderful trip to Durango and Glenwood – nice family time to swim, read, play games, and spend time together.  It was a great time to escape from reality for a while.  Damon did work while we were gone so it wasn’t quite as relaxing for him, but it was fun for us all to be together.

While we were gone, we received word that my breast cancer gene test came back negative; this means that I don’t carry the gene for breast cancer.  What great news for all of the women in our family, especially Madison and Molly!

After taking in as much information as we could handle, we have decided to move forward with a double mastectomy.  There were numerous pieces of information that influenced our decision including:
·    I still have two spots that need to be biopsied.  By choosing mastectomy, we avoid the biopsies and the results that may or may not come with them.  Any of you who have had a biopsy will probably understand this decision.


·     If I were to do a lumpectomy, I would have to have 6 weeks of radiation and 5 years of Tamoxifen.  If I had radiation and the cancer came back, I would not be able to have reconstruction so this is my chance to do that.  Also, the side effects of Tamoxifen in women my age can include premature menopause and osteoporosis. 
·     The chances of the cancer returning with lumpectomy are somewhere between 8% and 20% in 10 years.  The chances are less than 1% in my lifetime with mastectomy.
·     I can spend the 6 weeks after surgery focusing on recovery rather than radiation.

We have ultimate confidence in the surgeon and plastic surgeon that we’ve chosen.  The initial surgery is scheduled for May 6th and that will include the mastectomies and the beginning stages of the reconstruction.  It’s amazing to me that all of this is done in one surgery. 

The surgery will also include a sentinel node biopsy.  We’ve been fascinated about this modern medicine procedure.  Rather than taking several nodes for biopsy, they will inject dye into my body about an hour before surgery and the dye will travel to the “hot” node which we understand is the node that the cancer would go to first if it was going to travel.  That way they remove just that one node rather than several.

The entire process will include three surgeries, the first major one, then two outpatient surgeries and should take somewhere between 8 and 10 months.   If the pathology remains as is, I won’t need radiation or chemotherapy and the remaining steps of the reconstruction will be all I have left after the initial surgery.  We will meet with an oncologist about two weeks after surgery to confirm the pathology results.

We’re all doing pretty well, trying to get things done before surgery.  Damon has spent the last three weeks traveling so he can be home for a couple months after surgery.  Madison seems to be holding up well, but has her occasional moments of anxiousness.  Molly seems to be showing the most signs of anxiety and we’ll start seeing a counselor this week to help with that.  I am focusing on maintaining a positive attitude and being thankful that this is the best case scenario when all things are considered. 

We will try to be in touch one more time before surgery to give you a bit more information as we get it.

We are so thankful that you are part of our support system!  We continue to be amazed at the people who have reached out to us!

Love,

Kelly and Damon