Amy's Cancer Story

Dr. Ellis was behind on Wednesday so we finally got in to see him for our 11:00 am appointment sometime after 12:30.  We spent more than the average time with him because we talked about a lot.  He had not had a chance to look over any of my test reports prior to coming in so I waited while he read them.  Immediately he said my MRI on my chest looked good.  There were no other concerning spots.   The MRI was done to investigate other nearby areas.  I watched him read the pathology report and he circled some things and looked very serious.  So when he was done, to my disappointment and suspicion he informed me of the cancer spreading to the lymph nodes which meant the more extensive treatment including chemo.

Dr. Ellis said I would need 6 rounds of chemo.  A week of chemo and then two weeks off.  This is estimated to go on until May.  The reason it is a week on and week off is that your body has to recover for two weeks after being shot down.  Blood counts have to go back up.  The next step is radiation and then the pill for 5 years.  I don’t have further details yet on how that will all be handled.

Dr. Ellis said my Alkaline Phosphatase were normal and I think it was around 80 something.  When I had cancer  last time (2005-06) it was around 700.  Normal is less than 100, I believe.   But each cancer may elevate that level differently.  He also said my blood platelet count is low.  This is because of having all the chemo before.  So he said they will have to watch that closely.  If your platelet is too low, you have to postpone chemo until it comes back up.  Often the patient will have to receive a platelet infusion the same way you would get blood.  I had to receive both last time around more than once.

I asked Dr. Ellis if there was any kind of diet that I should be aware of.  He said that studies showed that high fat diets spread breast cancer and informed me that a couple of studies indicated this.  He also said the amount of sugar intake did not effect the cancer spreading.  You have to eat, so the best thing is to be sensible.  Protein also promotes healing.

I think that was most of what we discussed.  Then I had to have my blood drawn and get a bunch of appointments scheduled on the way out.  Then off to Dr. Goldstein’s office for surgery follow up.

Chris and I walked over to the next building and did not have to wait too long.  She was behind as well.  She checked me out and went over a few things and pulled my surgical drain out.  I am glad I did not know what it looked like because there was thing big thing on the end of the tube she pulled out.  It hurt but I made it through.  She gave me a hug and told me she loved me and went on to her next appointment and said to come back in a week.

I really like all my doctors.  It makes all the difference.  After my cancer treatments were done last time, Dr. Ellis said that he had done all that he could humanly possible and that God had to do the rest.  Now how many doctors are going to tell you that?

By the way my, wonderful hubby (the computer guru) bought the domain for this site, had it programmed, and up and running in less than 24 hours.

Good night.  🙂

Today I received a call from the hospital that will be installing my port for chemo.  It is scheduled for next Friday.  The port is inserted into your vein right below the collar bone and a cord will come up over the collar bone into the main artery.  Everything will be under the skin.  I will be awake for the procedure and will get plenty of happy medicine like last time 🙂 .   This is very painful to have put in.  Taking it out is the easy part.  The one thing  that bothers me about it is you feel like you just want to rip it out because it is a foreign object in your body that you can feel.  But this is what has to be done.

I am still doing real estate in between my naps.  I do a lot of work from home and still will be able to proceed.  Many of my co-workers have offered to help me out if I need houses shown.  Things are picking up after the Christmas holiday so it is going to be more challenging to keep up.  It does not help that I am a workaholic.  This journey is going to force me to slow down.

Thanks for checking in.  This site has been created to keep my family, brethren, and friends up to date on my second battle with cancer.  Some of you know may not know that in 2005 I was diagnosed with a bone cancer (osteosarcoma) in my right femur.  The tumor was discovered when I went to the ER, two days before Thanksgiving, due to pain in my right leg.  That is a long story that I may discuss in another post.  There were many prayers that went out for me.   I have been blessed to be cured of the osteosarcoma, having a wonderful family, church family, and friends that were there for me through the first battle.

I have been getting check ups with my oncologist, Dr. Ellis, and my Bone Surgeon, Dr. Goodman, about every 6 months.  This is standard practice for cancer patients.   One test that I have on a regular basis is a CT scan of my chest.  They scan my chest to see if the cancer returns, because the first place it will most likely go is to the lungs.   During a follow up  they saw something that was of concern.   I was suppose to go for the mammogram back January 2009 or, but being busy,  it fell to the wayside.  I finally got myself together and got it  scheduled this past October.  I received notification to come back for more tests.  They saw a spot and wanted to get more scans.

After the Mammogram in October, I was asked to come back for another one.  I went to my second appointment in November and it took a very long time.  The technician assured me that it was not necessarily because there was something wrong.  After mammogram, they recommend a sonogram immediately.  Then,  one of the radiologists sat down with me to show me what he saw.  The technician, who performed the sonogram, was telling me it was normal to go over results immediately.   I never had this happen that at this facility.  I was told that the tumor looked as though it had ridges around the edges, which indicates cancer.  The sonogram showed it was a solid mass, which also indicates cancer.    The radiologist informed me that this result was very concerning.

Dr. Ellis’s office referred me to a surgeon, Dr. Goldstien, and she had suggested that I have a biopsy to confirm the cancer.  On my 40th birthday, Dr. Goldstien called and confirmed the turmor was cancer.    Tests showed the tumor was about one centimeter in diameter.

After the biopsy, Dr. Goldstein wanted me to get a breast MRI.  The MRI showed that one of the lymph nodes was swollen.

On January 7th, 2010, the tumor was removed.  Dr. Goldstien suggested taking all the lymph nodes out.  Because of the swollen lymph node, it was possible the cancer had spread.  I agreed.  Before this surgery, a needle had to be inserted around the tumor to guide Dr. Goldstein to the exact location of the tumor.  This was done via the mammogram machine so photos could be taken to make sure it was placed properly.  The doctor who read October’s test results performed this procedure.

Because I do not do well with needles, and had an empty stomach, I ended up passing out.   During this process, the radiologist informed me that it was “luck” that he saw this tumor.  I would not say that it was luck but the hand of God protecting me from being in a worse situation.  The doctor almost missed the tumor because it was very hard to see.  This news  made me feel better, because thought I had waited too long to have my mammogram.   Although, if I had waited much longer, it could have been much worse.

On January 13th, Dr. Ellis said that 4 of the 21 lymph nodes that were taken out were cancerous.  It was a good thing they took them all out.  Due to the cancer spreading to the lymph nodes, I will need chemotherapy (again).  If it had not spread, I would have been able to get away with only having radiation and a pill for 5 years.

Now I have the challenge of having all three treatments and loosing my hair.  Last time I cried more about loosing my long hair than having cancer.  After growing it back the last three and a half years, now I have to start all over again, which I am not very happy about.

I have all my wigs, hats and bandannas ready to go.  I am considering taking photos of my journey, but I will have to swallow a lot of pride to be willing to post the photos.

Next week, I have to get a PET CT scan, and a port put in again.  A port is a line that goes to your main artery that receives the needles for chemo.  It is a great thing  to have because it saves your veins and does not hurt as much.   Also, next week I will be having a hearing test.  This is so Dr. Ellis can have a base line to test if the chemo is affecting my hearing.  The chemotherapy treatment for my last cancer, could have caused me to go deaf and other crazy side effects.  I did loose some hearing.  I cannot hear high pitched noises like a thermometer or beeper.

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.