Met with oncologist
I LOVE him. OMG, he was awesome. So SO happy with my team so far.
So, my cancer is 97% estrogen positive and HER2/neu negative.
From what I understand, if it were HER2/neu positive, that'd be automatic chemo (and a year long treatment at that). But because it's negative, we wait on the lymph node pathology report from surgery to figure out whether chemo and radiation are necessary.
If lymph nodes are negative, I won't need radiation. But he'll send the cancer out for ANOTHER test (onco-type testing) to see whether chemo is necessary.
If the lymph nodes are positive, then I'll have chemo and radiation both. But first, if it's positive, they want to know whether I'm Stage 2 or Stage 3, which can only be determined by examining the cancer after surgery. If Stage 3, I'll have a PET scan done looking for metastases. If Stage 2, I'll just start chemo.
Chemo will most likely be a course of two types of chemo every 2-3 weeks for 5 doses, then a course of another chemo once a week for 12 doses. Then radiation.
And then after all that, hormone therapy.
BUT! The big takeaway for now is that he doesn't want to wait for the BRCA genetic testing to come back before doing surgery. He says it'll take at least into next week to come back. With my cancer being so strongly estrogen receptive, he bets it'll be negative. But even if it is positive, I can have my ovaries out at any point -- it's "just" a laproscopic procedure. And he doesn't want me to have to wait another 2-3 weeks for surgery. Not because of outcome or needing to move quickly because of the cancer, but just because it's emotionally difficult. So instead of seeing my surgeon on Friday to schedule surgery for some point next week or the week after, I'm seeing my surgeon tomorrow. To schedule surgery...um, maybe this week? Maybe next week.
After waiting waiting waiting, suddenly BAM! Which is good, don't get me wrong. Just...a bit surprising. I told someone last night that I can't get off this train. (I mean, I could, of course, but that'd be stupid.) And suddenly the train is going a lot faster.
The other thing he's being awesome on so far is the lactose stuff. He's taking me totally seriously, made many notations, and has started thinking about the issue already. But we won't know what medication I'm going to need until the path report after surgery, so we'll deal with that when it happens. The only thing I have to worry about in that respect right now is post-surgery pain medication.
So...that's all the news.
So, my cancer is 97% estrogen positive and HER2/neu negative.
From what I understand, if it were HER2/neu positive, that'd be automatic chemo (and a year long treatment at that). But because it's negative, we wait on the lymph node pathology report from surgery to figure out whether chemo and radiation are necessary.
If lymph nodes are negative, I won't need radiation. But he'll send the cancer out for ANOTHER test (onco-type testing) to see whether chemo is necessary.
If the lymph nodes are positive, then I'll have chemo and radiation both. But first, if it's positive, they want to know whether I'm Stage 2 or Stage 3, which can only be determined by examining the cancer after surgery. If Stage 3, I'll have a PET scan done looking for metastases. If Stage 2, I'll just start chemo.
Chemo will most likely be a course of two types of chemo every 2-3 weeks for 5 doses, then a course of another chemo once a week for 12 doses. Then radiation.
And then after all that, hormone therapy.
BUT! The big takeaway for now is that he doesn't want to wait for the BRCA genetic testing to come back before doing surgery. He says it'll take at least into next week to come back. With my cancer being so strongly estrogen receptive, he bets it'll be negative. But even if it is positive, I can have my ovaries out at any point -- it's "just" a laproscopic procedure. And he doesn't want me to have to wait another 2-3 weeks for surgery. Not because of outcome or needing to move quickly because of the cancer, but just because it's emotionally difficult. So instead of seeing my surgeon on Friday to schedule surgery for some point next week or the week after, I'm seeing my surgeon tomorrow. To schedule surgery...um, maybe this week? Maybe next week.
After waiting waiting waiting, suddenly BAM! Which is good, don't get me wrong. Just...a bit surprising. I told someone last night that I can't get off this train. (I mean, I could, of course, but that'd be stupid.) And suddenly the train is going a lot faster.
The other thing he's being awesome on so far is the lactose stuff. He's taking me totally seriously, made many notations, and has started thinking about the issue already. But we won't know what medication I'm going to need until the path report after surgery, so we'll deal with that when it happens. The only thing I have to worry about in that respect right now is post-surgery pain medication.
So...that's all the news.