Oncology Appointment

I had an appointment today with my oncologist to answer a bunch of questions before chemo starts tomorrow. I also figured that she would have the results of the MUGA, bone and CT scans I did last week.  I hoped she would have the results of the sentinel node biopsy, but know that was very optimistic.

Bone scan and CT scan show that it has not spread to distant locations!!  yippee, that is good news.  The results of the sentinel node biopsy will tell if it has spread to the lymph nodes(considered regional).  The doctor didn't mention the stage, but my discussions, or rather research with Dr. Google have told me that I am probably stage II . . . if it is in the nodes it is IIb, if not it is IIa.  Please don't let it be in the nodes - they are kindof the gateway that leads to the rest of the body.

The surgeon said that if it is not in the nodes that the oncologist will only do 2 rounds of each chemo, well the oncologist said that wasn't exactly right.  What she was thinking is that if it is not in the nodes that she will do the 4 rounds of AC chemo then breast surgery (lumpectomy) then continue with the taxol.  I'm still a little unsure of why this is better other than I get a rest from the chemo.

We also discussed fertility in detail.  She is understanding, as a woman, and as someone who had to have help to have children too.  She said that she would prefer for me to start treatment than to try and freeze eggs because of the time delay as well as I would have to take hormones to stimulate the production of the eggs.  She has had several patients who have done chemo and then had their periods returned.  But so far none of her patients have had children after treatment.  We also briefly discussed Zoladex and she is concerned that it will reduce the effectiveness of the chemo, which isn't what I want either (with grade3 and close to triple negative).  She promised she would look into if there are any other studies on chemo and fertility and if there was anything I could do.

She also gave me a prescription for a wig . . .

I then scheduled some other appointments and did my pre-chemo labs.  After returning home I got a call from the pharmacist - they didn't give me a HCG test and it was needed.  I called to explain that I just had one yesterday before surgery, can they use that one.  Then later I had 2 messages - one was that I still needed to do the HCG so that there was the proper documentation, then the next one was that I did NOT need to do it because they were able to use some of my leftover blood for the hcg.  Whew, but it is kindof insult to injury that I have to take a HCG test every 3 weeks and have been tested twice in the last week . . . ahem, I know I haven't ovulated yet so there is no way I could be pregnant.  But the docs don't know that.  So I think the final answer is that I do not need a HCG sample . . . which I guess is good because my urine is still a little bluish.

So my two new nicknames are Radioactive Girl and Smurfette (due to my blue urine), hee hee . . . have to find humor in this somehow.