At Kelly's suggestion I called Dr Nelson's surgeon nurses and asked if there was a way to see the Oncologist on Thursday. I was scheduled to visit Dr. Nelson and he was presenting my case to the Cancer board that morning. Jill called me back within minutes with an appointment just after Dr. Nelson's appointment.
Thursday, with some anticipation, we made the trip across the valley. Once again we were treated with concern and care. Dr Nelson shared the consensus with us and indicated that we would have this repeated several times that day. We feel very blessed to have had him as my surgeon. He was a past chief of surgery for his department and is very good at what he does. Doctor John Ward was assigned as my Oncologist and he too was director of his department, the Huntsman Oncology department until 2012.
I was first examined by the PA, Rosie. She was very thorough in her exam and also in her efforts to get to know us. She asked how long we had been married, where we met, how many children, what we both did for a living, and more. Following Rosie, we were visited by a social worker, Lisa. She also spent time getting to know us. She was with us for 20 minutes. I was very impressed with her concern, not just with Kelly and I, but with all of our family. She made the statement that, "This is an emotional time for your whole family and is a family disease. If at any time your family needs to talk or vent, please give them my phone number and tell them to call. We are concerned not just for you, but for your whole family." I was touched.
It was now time to meet Dr. Ward. A very pleasant man. His first statement, "I'm here to learn about the Magna Bishops' Storehouse. My ward is assigned to go to Welfare Square." We then spent the next 25 minutes talking about our personal life, work, church, family. After getting to know us and repeating what Rosie had learned about us, he shared the pathology report and the discussion of the cancer.
The tumor was 2.3 centimeters, just slightly larger than a small tumor (2 cm). This would put me in a little different category. The cancer in the tumor was an aggressive cancer and the margins were good, but very, very close. There were cancerous cells in the tube from the breast to the lymph nodes. The sentinel and one other lymph nodes were removed and were clear of cancer. Good news. Rosie made the statement, "We caught this in the nick of time. It's good you didn't wait." For that I will be forever grateful. Doctor Ward said that Doctor Nelson had probably gotten all of the cancer with the surgery, but in a case like mine he would recommend an aggressive treatment of chemo. He said, "You're young and healthy and we want to decrease any chance of a recurrence of the cancer. Rosie and the Doctor determined it would be best for me to heal a bit more from the surgery and that after the first of the year would be best to start treatment. January 2nd will be the first treatment of 8 every other week for 16 weeks.
We will meet again with Dr. Agarwal on December 17th, share the treatment plan, and determine the plan for the next surgery.
Friday I had a very difficult day, experiencing pain from muscle spasms caused by the expander pressing on the muscles. This has been a regular occurrence since the surgery and something I've tried not to complain about, but Friday I had just had it. I hadn't slept well for two nights because of the discomfort and discouragement was mine all day. Thankfully I slept well that night and Saturday was much better.
As I've contemplated chemo I feel a little nervous. So we poison ourselves to cure ourselves. It seems a bit odd that this is how it's done, but I will be grateful for a long healthy life when cured. Yes, once again, it seems all so surreal. In my whole life, I never anticipated that Cancer would be a disease I would have in my life. But really, does anyone?\
Doctor Agarwal has given me the okay to return to work 4 hours a day on Monday. I anticipate being very busy and am a bit apprehensive of returning. I have come to love being home although have not been very productive. Someone made the observation that I must going stir crazy, and I responded that you have to feel good to go stir crazy and I hadn't felt well enough to go stir crazy.
I'm grateful for the Minky blanket I was given to keep me warm and comfortable, especially as I anticipate the coming couple of months. Thank you to my sweet friend Sandy Jensen. I now have three fun blankets to curl up in.
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