Meghan Hook Meg fights like a mother

Welcome to my CaringBridge website. I am using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. I appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.


My Story:


I found a lump in March 2019. Due to unexpected family changes, I did not seek medical attention as it seemed to be a minor thing. In August I went to my OB/GYN who referred me for a diagnostic Mammogram and Ultrasound. The radiologist was concerned with the mass picked up on the imaging and scheduled me for a biopsy the following week. The biopsy took place on August 13th and on August 16th I was advised I had Hormone Receptor Positive Invasive Ductal Carcinoma with an approximately 1.4 cm tumor. There was also DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) found. 


I was referred to Dr. Blanchard, a local breast surgeon, for a consultation. She had me scheduled for genetic testing as well as a breast MRI to make sure there were no other areas of concern. My genetic testing showed I did not have any genetic markers for breast cancer and the MRI appeared to be clear of any other areas of concern, though the tumor did appear to be slightly bigger than we originally thought. We decided to do a lumpectomy with Sentinel node biopsy.


The lumpectomy was performed on October 7th. During surgery it was found that the cancer had spread to the lymph node, so an additional 5 nodes were removed. Results of pathology found that the other nodes were clear, but the margins of the node were not clear.  The tumor was determined to be 2.2 cm. Due to the size of the tumor along with the involvement of a lymph node, I was officially classified as Stage 2b Breast Cancer. I had a mammaprint test done on the tumor, and it was determined it was a high risk of metastisizing, so it was determined I would be having chemotherapy.


A second excision was completed on November 4th to attempt to obtain clear margins as well as to place my access port which will be used for chemo. This pathology report unfortunately showed one still not clear margin as well as more invasive cancer in the rest of the tissue removed. This fortunately did not change my stage. We have determined I will undergo a double mastectomy next year after chemotherapy so no other re-excisions were planned.


Chemotherapy will begin December 9th and will consist of 4 rounds of AC chemo followed by 12 rounds of Taxol. Once chemo is done, I will have to take Anti-hormonal medication for 5-10 years due to my tumor being strongly hormone receptor positive.