Journal entry by Missi Dahm —
Hello all,
Haven't done an update lately so I figured no time like the present.
It's been a busy few months to say the least!
I finished radiation on Aug 17th and the "radiation burns" kept popping up 2 weeks later. I had to wait for that to heal to go back to physical therapy.
Dr ordered a CT scan for 9/11 to check things over before I would start the chemo pills. Had the appointment with him to go over the results of the scan and he said that I had some enlarged lymph nodes in my chest. He really didn't think it was anything to be concerned about but ordered a PET scan to be sure. Couldn't get in for that until Oct 3rd. Had that done and waited for results and a call. Of course the results popped up first before the Dr called. I looked at the results and things didn't sound good. Waited for the Dr to call and sure enough. "LOOKS LIKE THE CANCER IS BACK" . Definitely NOT the news we ever expected that soon after treatment. He said "the spot in the mastectomy site looks suspicious for cancer". What?? In the mastectomy site?? Thought we were looking at the lymph nodes in my chest??? "Yes, we were. But there is a spot that looks suspicious in the surgical site ". WTF??
We did end up doing a biopsy in the regular Dr office, but with all of the scar tissue and damaged skin from radiation the surgeon couldn't get a good enough sample. So my choices were go to the hospital OR and have that spot biopsied again or go down to Froedtert in Wauwatosa to have them scope my throat and biopsy the lymph nodes. Chose the closer, less invasive route. The surgeon had the pathologist on stand by to look at the sample to make sure she got a better sample this time. By the time I woke up they knew there were cancer cells in that sample. WTF??
We were definitely in shock! How could this be happening......again?!?! I started talking to some people about some non traditional treatment options while we waited for them to further test the sample and see if it was the same type of cancer as the first 2 times.
At that point I did start taking some "non traditional " meds that we had read about last Nov. I also reached out to a couple wellness clinics that somebody Jamie knows used in the past and had gotten rid of his cancer for good. They couldn't see me until late 2026, ummmm what???
I stumbled on another clinic that uses ozone therapy as a cancer treatment. Cancer cells can't survive in an ozone, oxygen rich environment. The actual machine I called a Hocatt. Well....what the hell....let's try it!
I met with the lady and she told me to go gluten free, sugar free. She told me to throw my vitamins out the window and I started taking a quality vitamin/mineral supplement along with some other supplements. I also started the ozone sauna therapy. She was a nurse who left the clinical system because those systems always seem to just "throw pills" at a problem and not try to figure out the reason and treat the person. She has also been following a guy that had cancer and has come up with a "protocol " of things to take to eradicate cancer. She had to be trained on the system and then order it. I will be starting that next week as soon as she gets that in.
I did meet with the oncologist this week to discuss his options. He did not seem happy with some of the things I have started...but you know what.....his "standard" ways of treatments haven't worked multiple times!! What do I have to lose to throw all I can at this??
His suggestion was to do chemo again, a different one I haven't been on. BUT....because there was the spot in my chest and the lymph nodes "look the same" he is calling this Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer. That being said...Metastatic breadth cancer can't be "cured" and you only receive "pallative" care. So I would take this chemo once every 3 weeks for the rest of my life...OR...until it stops working at keeping the cancer from growing/spreading....OR...until I can no longer tolerate it. He will still keep looking for other treatments and clinical trials I could try.
That's A LOT to wrap our heads around at our age.
He "agreed" to "let me" continue what I am doing and do another CT scan Nov 30th and meet with him after to see if anything has changed. We will then make the decision on if I will start the chemo and when. Oh yeah.....this chemo causes heart problems so I'll have to get an EKG every couple months! But....you might not want to keep taking these alternative meds!
In the words of Jamie "if I roofed your house once and it leaked and you had me vack a second time and it leaked again. Would you hire me a 3rd time for the same problem??
So we are REALLY going to need all of the thoughts and prayers you can send our way!!
Thanks for everybody's continued support!!
Haven't done an update lately so I figured no time like the present.
It's been a busy few months to say the least!
I finished radiation on Aug 17th and the "radiation burns" kept popping up 2 weeks later. I had to wait for that to heal to go back to physical therapy.
Dr ordered a CT scan for 9/11 to check things over before I would start the chemo pills. Had the appointment with him to go over the results of the scan and he said that I had some enlarged lymph nodes in my chest. He really didn't think it was anything to be concerned about but ordered a PET scan to be sure. Couldn't get in for that until Oct 3rd. Had that done and waited for results and a call. Of course the results popped up first before the Dr called. I looked at the results and things didn't sound good. Waited for the Dr to call and sure enough. "LOOKS LIKE THE CANCER IS BACK" . Definitely NOT the news we ever expected that soon after treatment. He said "the spot in the mastectomy site looks suspicious for cancer". What?? In the mastectomy site?? Thought we were looking at the lymph nodes in my chest??? "Yes, we were. But there is a spot that looks suspicious in the surgical site ". WTF??
We did end up doing a biopsy in the regular Dr office, but with all of the scar tissue and damaged skin from radiation the surgeon couldn't get a good enough sample. So my choices were go to the hospital OR and have that spot biopsied again or go down to Froedtert in Wauwatosa to have them scope my throat and biopsy the lymph nodes. Chose the closer, less invasive route. The surgeon had the pathologist on stand by to look at the sample to make sure she got a better sample this time. By the time I woke up they knew there were cancer cells in that sample. WTF??
We were definitely in shock! How could this be happening......again?!?! I started talking to some people about some non traditional treatment options while we waited for them to further test the sample and see if it was the same type of cancer as the first 2 times.
At that point I did start taking some "non traditional " meds that we had read about last Nov. I also reached out to a couple wellness clinics that somebody Jamie knows used in the past and had gotten rid of his cancer for good. They couldn't see me until late 2026, ummmm what???
I stumbled on another clinic that uses ozone therapy as a cancer treatment. Cancer cells can't survive in an ozone, oxygen rich environment. The actual machine I called a Hocatt. Well....what the hell....let's try it!
I met with the lady and she told me to go gluten free, sugar free. She told me to throw my vitamins out the window and I started taking a quality vitamin/mineral supplement along with some other supplements. I also started the ozone sauna therapy. She was a nurse who left the clinical system because those systems always seem to just "throw pills" at a problem and not try to figure out the reason and treat the person. She has also been following a guy that had cancer and has come up with a "protocol " of things to take to eradicate cancer. She had to be trained on the system and then order it. I will be starting that next week as soon as she gets that in.
I did meet with the oncologist this week to discuss his options. He did not seem happy with some of the things I have started...but you know what.....his "standard" ways of treatments haven't worked multiple times!! What do I have to lose to throw all I can at this??
His suggestion was to do chemo again, a different one I haven't been on. BUT....because there was the spot in my chest and the lymph nodes "look the same" he is calling this Stage 4 Metastatic Breast Cancer. That being said...Metastatic breadth cancer can't be "cured" and you only receive "pallative" care. So I would take this chemo once every 3 weeks for the rest of my life...OR...until it stops working at keeping the cancer from growing/spreading....OR...until I can no longer tolerate it. He will still keep looking for other treatments and clinical trials I could try.
That's A LOT to wrap our heads around at our age.
He "agreed" to "let me" continue what I am doing and do another CT scan Nov 30th and meet with him after to see if anything has changed. We will then make the decision on if I will start the chemo and when. Oh yeah.....this chemo causes heart problems so I'll have to get an EKG every couple months! But....you might not want to keep taking these alternative meds!
In the words of Jamie "if I roofed your house once and it leaked and you had me vack a second time and it leaked again. Would you hire me a 3rd time for the same problem??
So we are REALLY going to need all of the thoughts and prayers you can send our way!!
Thanks for everybody's continued support!!
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