After the Oncologist...

So yesterday I met my oncologist who explained that I would be having 8 courses of chemotherapy - one day on and three weeks off. So for the first 4 courses, it takes about an hour or so for the treatment, and the final 4 courses take appx 3 hours for the treatment.

I meet separately with a radiation oncologist who will talk to me about whether I'll be having radiation or not - and that won't be for ages because if there WILL be radiation, it won't happen until after the chemotherapy ends and therefore there is no rush for that appointment.

My first chemotherapy is booked for October 22. Between now and then, I have several other appointments to prepare me for that, such has having a 'Port-a-Cath' installed. That is a valve thing that gets installed into my chest on the right side where the IV can hook up without me having to get poked every time I go there. Apparently, it helps ease the discomfort because the drugs go directly into a large chest vein and they get diluted quickly before touching the walls of the vein. When you get the IV in your arm, it can be uncomfortable - and since I wimped like a baby having saline in my arm before surgery, I felt that the port-a-cath is a better option for me...

The oncologist gave me a prescription for a wig already. He says I'll probably notice the hair loss beginning a couple of weeks after my first chemo. So, I definitely WILL be bald for my 40th birthday.... (I made this comment already in front of a bald male friend who will also be 40 soon.... surprisingly, I didn't get much sympathy from him... HA HA)

Earlier this week, I had a simple scar revision procedure done on my mastectomy side. Part of the incision wasn't healing well and there was 'hole' in my skin. So he cut out the poor tissue and re-stitched it together. It looks much better now!

One interesting thing he said is that the cancer that was in my lymph node was a "Micro-Metastisis" - because it was only 0.4 mm in size. He said that 10 or 15 years ago, that may not have been caught at all and I would have been diagnosed as node negative, but these days, the technology is more detailed and they can see that small of a size. That tiny amount of cancer puts me in a 'grey area' for radiation. And that's why I have to talk to the radiation oncologist about it. So I don't have any idea if they are going to recommend radiation or not.

It was a bit of a sobering day - but I've bounced back now. I don't want to waste these 'non-chemo days' feeling sorry for myself. I suspect I'll have plenty of time and inclination for that when I am actually suffering the effects of the chemo!!


On a different topic.... I did buy a couple of cotton bras at Wal-Mart that were 36Cs!!! (although my first post-op bra was a 36D, but that was La Senza and I think they have vanity sizing). I LOVE my smaller breast!

Love to all - hope this blog thing works for everyone!