I finally had my appointment at the cancer centre on Tuesday. First I had to give some blood. Then I filled in some forms only to have the nurse ask me the same questions and write my answers on another form. Then I met my oncology doctor and he examined me. After that I was able to get dressed and they came back in and he went over everything that I have done so far and what is to come.

All this time I thought I was having 5 days of injections followed by 17 days off times 4 but that isn’t right. I will be on chemo for over a year! First I will get three drugs – Fluorouracil, Epirubicin, and Cycolphosphamide in one injection every 3 weeks times 3. (This is appropriately called FEC!) Then I will get a drug called Taxotere also one injection every three weeks times 3. At the same time (as the taxotere) they will start me on Herceptin which is also one injection every three weeks but this one will go on for one year. Sometime during all this I will also have 5-6 weeks of radiation but I am not clear on when that will be. At the end of the year I will go on anti HR treatment (something like tamoxifen) for 5 years.

On Wednesday I had my MUGA scan (heart scan). First they take out a tube of blood. Then they mixed it with some radioactive markers and injected it back into me. Then I had to lay on a table same as the bone scan and they scanned my heart for about 10 minutes. Some of the drugs I will be on can damage your heart so this is something I will have to keep doing to make sure that isn't happening.

So that is it in a nutshell. These drugs can have pretty awful side effects and I will have to stay away from any germs. At this point I can hardly imagine doing this for a whole year. I got my call this morning and on March 17 I will get my PICC line installed. That in itself sounds pretty frightening! March 18 will be my first chemo treatment.

The First Oncology Appointment

Well I finally got my letter in the mail today and I will meet with the oncology doctor on March 10. That's just two weeks away people!

The antibiotics seemed to take care of any infection that might have been brewing but they didn't get rid of any of the fluid that was built up. I couldn't get an appointment through the office so I went to the hospital and I was lucky that Dr S was working emergency that day. He syphoned off 200 ml of fluid! It didn't hurt, in fact I didn't feel a thing. It was completely painless and didn't get sore the next day either. On Tuesday it was 9 weeks since the surgery so he said he would call the cancer clinic next week if I still didn't have an appointment.

The fun just never ends.

I still have quite a bit of fluid built up and it seems to be getting worse instead of better. I had to put the compression sleeve back on this morning since my arm is also starting to swell. Dr. S has me back on antibiotics and if it isn’t improving in a week I have to go back and get it aspirated. He said not too worry, it won’t be that bad. That’s easy to say when you are on the giving side of the needle! Actually I’m sure it can’t be any worse than anything else I have been through lately.

I got a package of information from the cancer clinic today. Still nothing about an appointment with the oncologist though.

Still in Limbo

I called the cancer clinic this morning to see if they could tell me how much longer I will have to wait. She said it depends on a lot of things like whether they have all your reports and the availability of physicians. She did look up my name and said that it was good news because I am at the referral stage. So that means I am in the queue and they will call me as soon as my name comes to the top of the list.

Other than that I feel great. I’m keeping busy, staying out of trouble and doing my exercises every day. I will post as soon as I get more news.

FINALLY Some Good News!!!

My liver scan and bone scan both came back clear and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy and relieved I am about that!

The bone scan was so easy. Just a little injection into my arm and then we went for lunch. They told me to drink lots of fluids and come back in 2 hours. When I got back I just had to lie on a very narrow table very still for 20 minutes while it took the pictures. Laying still that long was the hardest part because as soon as I knew I couldn’t move, my legs went numb and my face got itchy! She said the results take 7 – 10 days to come back but if you have a doctor’s appointment before that, he can call for the results. I said I have an appointment in 2 hours and she said they could give it to him by then so that was a real bonus to get them already today.

Dr H was very pleased with how well everything is healing. He gave me my pathology reports and explained it all to me. They did find the primary source and he did say that there was so much going on in there that he is certain we did the right thing to do the mastectomy. When I am all done my treatments in 6 months time or so he wants me to come back to see him to get the mastectomy on the other side since I am at a high risk for recurrence. He also said I am at Stage 3 which is worse than we originally thought. Stage 4 is the worst it can be.

We also went to Pink Tree to buy a prosthesis. A very expensive trip but thankfully Murray has a good insurance plan through work that will pay for it. I looked at a few wigs but didn’t try anything on yet. They look nicer than my real hair!

Now I just have to wait some more for the cancer clinic to contact me with an appointment with the oncologist. Not sure when but I am expecting that it will be the end of January or early February.

I had my second physio therapy session today and things are progressing nicely. I have a ways to go with my arm mobility but I’m doing well when you consider the last surgery was only 3 weeks ago. (It seems like a lot longer than that!) The fluid pocket that developed after surgery is going down so yay I shouldn't have to have it aspirated.

Dr. H called last evening but the phone was off the hook so I missed the call. I’m guessing that he has my results from the liver scan and so now I can stew about that until next time he’s in his office making calls or at least until I see him on Monday.

I did manage to get my bone scan appointment moved to Monday as well. Unfortunately Jessica can't come to the city with us that day so we will have to make another trip in after all. She flies back to Korea on Saturday.