First post:
Jul 10, 2018 Latest post:
Feb 21, 2019
Diagnosed with Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) right breast and Ductal Carcinoma In Situ (DCIS) in the left breast in early March 2018.
Mid April: Started Tamoxifen to suppress the estrogen feeding my cancer. Mine proved to be strongly hormone influenced which is actually a very good thing!
May 7th: Had a bilateral mastectomy with sentinel node biopsy, port placement for chemotherapy, and laparoscopic removal of my fallopian tubes and ovaries. Had a couple minor complications with this first surgery... I formed a hematoma on the Left and lost enough blood to this that I required 2 units of blood. B/P dropped to 85/40... It's pretty crazy to feel lightheaded and almost pass out just from changing position in bed (From lying flat.... to raising the head of my bed into a low reclined position.... Annnd... right back to flat again before the world went dark! Lol!) My magnesium also left the building so I had 6 hours of that dripping in which is less than pleasant as it burns going in the vein... But, once those minor details were addressed I was up and out of the hospital lickety split!
At my 1wk post op appointment I was told that the pathology report stated my margins were positive for cancer (meaning they didn't get all of the malignant tissue in this first attempt).
My amazing medical oncologist was not satisfied with this report and asked the Chief of Surgery for the Breast Cancer Clinic to take me back to surgery to get negative margins. So on June 15th I had a bilateral revision mastectomy...and Wallah! No complications and the pathology report we desired. Negative margins! Of course I also had 2 more weeks of dealing with surgical drains....😝... But now that the whole surgery ordeal is over I can say it was worth it. 😀
I had been told I had to heal for a minimum of 30 days before starting chemo... But at only 3 weeks post op my medical oncologist said we were ready to start! He was much more excited about this than me. Lol.
The treatment plan post surgery includes continuing the Tamoxifen, 24 weeks of chemotherapy, followed by 4-8 weeks of radiation to the right axilla and chest wall. After that....my cancer should be gone and I'll just need to continue taking Tamoxifen or a similar med, for 5-10 years to reduce the risk of it coming back!
CaringBridge is a nonprofit social network dedicated to helping family and friends communicate with and support loved ones during a health journey. Learn more about CaringBridge.
