Fwd: Update/Questions

[Guest guest]

I had chemo on Monday every 3 weeks for 8 treatments...4 times with Cytoxan and Adriamycin and 4 times with Taxotier...then I had radiation 5 days a week...no week-ends for about a month...then i started taking Tamoxifen after the chemo from Dec 2002 to Oct 2003...then on Aromison and then Arimidex from Oct 2003 to present...have a little less then 2 yrs left... Now have to have a D & C to see what the thickening of the lining is sometime soon.. Betsy (NC) Note: forwarded message attached.

Had my follow up with the surgeon. He took out the drainage tube

(yeah!), gave me permission to shower (double yeah!) and drive. Was

some confusion on the pathology report. He thought margins were okay

but something came up that they weren't. He talked with Radiology

Oncologist, then his Resident who assisted. They agreed that the

margins were fine, they just cut into the tumor which when stained

showed no margin (that's the explanation I got). Dr. claimed they

took out a lot of tissue for the size of the tumor. So Radiologist

said okay. Also found out 5 out of the 7 nodes they took out tested

positive for cancer cells. Has it gone beyond the lymph nodes? He

couldn't say. I think that is left up to the Medical Oncologist to

determine. It definately means Chemo. But, I figured that when the

Sentinel Node was positive. I asked about staging... and I got the

letters and numbers, etc. He felt probably between a I and a II.

But, I assume that can change if it has spread beyond the lymph

nodes.

So as we all do, I'm preparing for the next year being a real

journey and trying prepare for what might be ahead. Appointments

will be set up tomorrow with Radiology Oncologist and Medical

Oncologist who will have the answers as to what, when, where, and

how.

Now I realize every person, every cancer, every treatment is

different so I'm just asking what happened in your own case so I

have a better idea of what to plan on my end.

Can someone tell me what exactly is done to put in a port? Will I

have one, I don't know, but I'm curious.

Also, is there a certain schedule to chemo? Now I know it can be

every 2-3-4 weeks for so many treatments, but do I get some latitude

as to what day of the week I go in ( & I know this can depend on the

center)? I just wonder if there is any choices here. All this has to

do with planning my schedule. The DR says I am #1 but when you have

others depending on you, it makes it hard to let that go.

Thank you for any responses. I'm sure I'll have many, many, many

more questions as I go.

Barb