Basically, here's what we have found out :
1) In most cancerous tumors, about 10-20% of the cells are active, developing, multiplying cells. Meaning only about 10-20% of the cells are growing and spreading.
With my particular tumor, more than 90% of the cells are active and multiplying. Which basically explains why I felt like this lump developed "over night". . . . . it almost did (literally). They did more measurements today, and the tumor has actually grown some since Monday .. . . . . .already!
2) The course of action will be to do a partial masectomy - taking the lump and surrounding tissue out - then they will check the lymphnodes and see if there are any that are infected - if so, those will also come out. They could take anywhere from 1-30 lymphnodes out at the time of surgery.
3) After surgery, I will have 6 weeks of Radiation treatment on a daily basis for 5 days a week. Following that, I will do Chemo. They will treat it aggressivley since this is such a rapidly developing Cancer. If there are cells in other parts of the body (which will be scanned after surgery when I go to the Oncologist), the Chemo will work well against them if they haven't already started forming tumors. If more tumors are found elsewhere, there may be more surgeries to follow - it's a wait and see game.
4) I've been told that my hair WILL fall out - all of it - which was pretty hard for me to take - I've always had so much, I can't imagine it all being gone. . . . I think for both my sake, and Damon's sake - I will do the "wig thing".
5) I should not need reconstructive surgery - they don't anticipate taking that much tissue out, but they could - again, it's a wait and see thing. By Federal Law, Insurance companies are REQUIRED to pay for reconstruction up to 2 years following Breast Cancer surgery - so I have time to decide whether or not I want to do that. Dr. Elliott said that if he gets in there, and there is more "damage" than anticipated, his job is to go get all the cancer - whatever that means. . . . so I could very well wake up from surgery with my entire breast gone. I guess I'll just have to "be surprised".
6) Since this Cancer is so aggressive, and growing so rapidly - they don't want to wait at all. .. .they would have done the surgery tomorrow if they could have gotten me in for Radiation today. . . but they couldn't . .. so they want to do surgery this coming week - preferably on WED, if they can get it scheduled. So I go in for a Radiation treatment on Tuesday, Sept. 7 - and they are trying to get me scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, Sept 8. It should just be day surgery, which is nice. . . . they don't want you to be exposed to infection in the hospital if at all possible, so they would much rather send you home to recover. In the hospital, there are alot of resistant germs that just wouldn't be good.
7) This particular cancer that I have is RARE - it accounts for only 5% of Breast Cancers worldwide. . . . . and because it is hormone driven, it hits younger women - I would assume that if you compared the % of young women who get breast cancer to this % here, they would probably match up pretty closely.
8) And the hardest pill to swallow - (forgive me as I take a few minutes to swallow several lumps in my throat, and hold back tears) I won't ever be able to become pregnant again! For two reasons. . . . a) Chemo sometimes causes infertility - although this is not a definite . . it varies from person to person. b) Increased hormone levels will give me a MUCH higher chance (like an 85-90% higher chance) to contract more Cancer later on down the line. Even if we "get it all now", it would only cause it to come back if I tried to get Pregnant later on. And from what I understand, it would come back with a vengence - stronger than the last time . . .each time it happened. So, I guess I'm not ever going to have another baby - if we want another child, we will have to adopt. This is not normally a "known fact" because most people with Cancer are out of child bearing years. . . for those of us who are still there, forgive me - but "It Sucks" !
NOTE: We are going to tell Damon that "Mommy is having surgery, then going to the Dr. . . and having to take medicine that would make Mommy's hair fall out". He took it pretty well - until we got to the "hair part". . . . he started crying. In order to get him to calm down, and try to lighten up the situation, I told him he could help me pick out my "HOME WIG". . . . . and I asked him if Mommy should have purple or green hair. He settled down, and has since then decided that I should have a RAINBOW WIG. I guess when the time comes, I'll have to humor him, and might be seen wearing a pretty crazy wig. (Hopefully just behind the walls of our house) . . . but if you see me out and about with it, You'll know why !
