Good News!

The results are finally back! The HER/2NEU test was negative, so it is not an aggressive type of cancer. Now I can start the chemotherapy that DrT recommended.
Other good news: there is a medical oncologist, Dr. Popatia, that offices out of Oak Bend. I gave Dr. T all of Popatia's contact information. Faith at DrT's office got me hooked up! I am now able to have my chemo here at Oak Bend! YEA!!
On Monday I go to Oak Bend and pre-register for my little out patient surgery to have the port/catheter inserted in my chest.
The procedure will take place at Oak Bend Tuesday at 11. The surgery is basically implanting a port (container) in my chest for a catheter (like an IV line) to go into my inferior vena cava (heart vessel). This is so that I do not have an IV line put in every time I have chemo, and it will help protect the veins in my arms. There is no maintenance for me with the port. The nurses will flush it about every 5-6 weeks. After the drugs are pumped into the port, they just cover the needle prick with a band-aid. Sounds simple!
My first chemotherapy treatment will be Friday at 10am.
I am sorry it took me so long to post this "breaking news", but it was HALLOWEEN! I got the phone call from DrT's office about 2 this afternoon. Dr Popatia's office called next. They needed me to come in and get insurance and paperwork completed. I also met with the nurse and she explained more about the treatments. So I got home about 4, just in time to make "mummy dogs" for our neighborhood potluck before trick r treating. We came in about 9, gave baths, and here I am.
Pray that I have favorable reactions to chemotherapy and that the side effects are very minimal.

Thanks Andon!

Jim's office surprised him with a parade of support! Thanks ladies! You gals are great! I know Jim deeply appreciates it as well!

Little Bit of New Info

I spoke to my doctor's PA this afternoon. We are still waiting for the results of my HER/2 test. She said they were doing it as we spoke and should have results tomorrow. There was a mix-up with my slides. When Dr Dempsey/Pathology Dept sent over the first set of samples, they were all stained (already tested). It took almost 2 weeks for the unstained slides to make it over to MD Anderson. The PA said she would call me tomorrow, definitely by Friday.
If the test is negative then we proceed with the prescribed chemotherapy as described in an earlier post. If positive then the chemotherapy drugs will change some (more drugs, and more intense).
I will post when I hear back with the results!
Pray that the HER/2 test is negative!

Pink Party & still waiting!

I truly have the best family, friends, and neighbors! Some of them honored me with a pink party Sunday afternoon! Lots of delicious food and pink drinks! Up and down my street they tied some pink ribbons. My friend, Jole, brought some awesome cookies. Make sure you check out the picture. Jim told Allyson they were "targets".

Other news: I spoke to my doctor's nurse today. She said he wants to wait for the result of my HER/2 test before we start chemo. :( I was ready! My doctor is suppose to call me tomorrow to discuss it further. If there is anything new, I will post again!

Decision Made

I have decided to try chemotherapy first. I hope to start next week. I hope to have chemo on Fridays so that there will be little disruption to my family's other activities.
Having my chemo at Oak Bend is not an option because they only have radiation.
No word on the last 2 test results.
Pray that my body is able to handle to chemotherapy drugs without interruption to life as I know it.

Doctor Appt 2

Still not much new. We met with Dr Theriault today. ALL of my scans, tests, etc came out clean. As far as we know there is NO cancer anywhere else. There is still a slight chance it could have spread to the lymph nodes. They will do a sentinel lymph node biopsy when I have surgery. As far as treatment, doctor is still suggesting chemo first and then surgery. Still up to me, and I'm scared to make that decision. My chemo would be in 2 phases. Phase one would be once a week with the drug paclitaxel(given by IV) for a total of 12 weeks. This is suppose to be rather easy. I should be able to drive and do everything normally. I will have another mammogram/ultrasound at the 6-8 week mark to see if we have any shrinking. Phase two will be the bad one. It is 3 drugs (cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and 5-fluorouracil & leucovorin) given by IV once every 21 days. I will be checked every 3 weeks for blood count. Also the mammogram/ultrasound for shrinkage. If none of the drugs work then we scrap chemo and go to surgery. That's the plus side of doing chemo first. We can see if it's working and stop if it doesn't. If we wait till after then I'm stuck with chemo and have no idea if it's doing anything. Doctor said I can start as soon as I'm ready.
Since the HER/2 came back equivocal(sp??) - he is going to have another sample tested. He seems to think he will have that result back by Wednesday. He is also checking if chemo can be done anywhere closer. I should be getting the genetic testing back by the end of next week. If that comes back positive - I have a very HUGE decision to make, because that changes everything.

I cannot thank everyone enough for all the wonderful thoughts and prayers, the cards, the messages, and all the help with the kids and food! I hope to make my decision by the end of the week.
love,
Terrie

little bit of news

Finally got a result back from the HER/2 test. It was equivacol (sp??). Which means they do not know. There was not enough of the sample to determine yes or no. I hope to find out what to do next about that from my doctor on Monday. I also found out in a round about way that my bone scan and x-ray are clean!!!!!! YEAH!!!!! There are some questions about my back which is why all the scans were done on Tuesday. One more bit of news. I have an appt with my surgeon on Dec. 8th. Her name is Kelly Hunt. She was highly recommended to me by one of our contacts! She is the chief of the breast surgical center! Here is a link to her bio
http://www.mdanderson.org/Care_Centers/BreastCenter/display.cfm?id=CF222BD4-C75D-444B-9971752DAF9DC4A4&method=displayFull&pn=CB79717E-7868-11D4-AEC400508BDCCE3A

And we keep moving on!

Tests, Scans, and more Scans

Well, it was a LONG day. JB and I left this morning at 6:40 for MD Anderson. My first stop was the mammogram. Next was the ultrasound. They did see some irregularities in one of my lymph nodes. So, I got poked and prodded again with the Fine Needle Aspiration biopsy (FNA). But we got GOOD NEWS! The preliminary report of the FNA biopsy showed no cancer in that lymph node! All of that before 11! I had about an hour break for lunch. I reported back for an IV preparing me for the bone scan. I sat around till 3. Then they could do the bone scan. I had to repeat the full bone scan twice, the pelvic region twice, and then they wanted to do a cat scan of the pelvic region (that was not planned). So what should have taken about 30 minutes was about a hour and a half. We didn't get home till 5:30.
Thanks to one of our contacts we have a patient relations person following us around. She has met us at each of our appointments. She makes sure all of needs are attended to. She showed us a special waiting room that is off the grid that we have access to. It is quiet, has a computer and TV, snacks and drinks, and tons of GOOD magazines! JB was excited about this because all the other waiting rooms have NO magazines, just 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles. Whew!
I have nothing going on tomorrow or Thursday. One more cat scan on Friday and then I meet with the doctor again on Monday. I will post again if I get any new information!
I love you all!!!! I am so blessed with awesome family & friends!

First Doctor Appt @ MD Anderson

As of now, I LOVE my new doctor. He was SOOOO nice and very nurturing. I can tell he has a great bedside manner. A friend told me that you don't really need to like your surgeon but you must LOVE your oncologist because you will see him for the rest of your life. I got very lucky.

Well, the doctor pretty much said the same thing as before. Still no word on the HER/2 test. I will be very busy getting all the tests done because I see him again on Monday. At that appointment he will discuss treatment plans. He hopes to do chemo first and shrink down the tumor and then instead of mastectomy do a BCS(breast-conserving surgery). That would be the best scenario.

MD Anderson is great, everyone was very nice and we moved along rather quickly. I had my chest x-ray and blood work after my appointment today. The x-ray will help determine if the cancer has spread to my lungs. Blood work will help determine this as well. Tomorrow I will be there all day! I need to check in at 7:40 for my mammogram that is scheduled at 8:00. Then I check in for my ultrasound at 9:10. Ultrasound will be done at 9:30 with a possibility of a FNA (Fine Needle Aspiration Biopsy). If the lymph node glands look irregular on the ultrasound then they will take a sample to check for cancer. The doctor did say that one felt hard, but that it could be from the first biopsy. I have a small break. I then check in for my bone scan and take the nuclear dose, wait for 2 hours. The bone scan is scheduled for 3:00.
I am off Wednesday and Thursday. I go back Friday. I check in for my Cat Scan prep at 3:10, with the Cat Scan scheduled for 4:40.
I hope I get good news with the ultrasound and they do not perform the FNA. I will post again tomorrow!

T-Shirts

WOW!!!!! The McNally's sent me the following email:


I put together a T-Shirt for you guys. Every party needs a shirt, right? $10 from each shirt will go to help with medical bills. Here is the link: http://236340.spreadshirt.com/us/US/Shop/ Have your sister email out the site address to everyone. Put it on your blog! Let me know if you want some other items. I will be adding stuff for winter soon, but wanted to get a couple of basics up quickly. Matt.

www.terriewillwin.spreadshirt.com

$10 from each shirt will go to help the Bradleys with medical bills. Show your support.

Matt & Lisa McNally


You guys are great! My heart is deeply touched!
Terrie

WE ARE IN!!!!!

One of our numerous contacts finally got a hit! We have an appointment at MD Anderson on Monday, Oct. 13th at 3. We have a new patient appt at 2, then we actually get to see the doctor at 3. Like I have said before, I can't thank everyone enough for all the help you have given us. My prayers were answered, get into MD Anderson quickly! I'd say that was quick enough!
Jim was so excited he described himself as "giddy" that we have an appointment. Me - very mixed emotions. I feel scared, relieved, and nervous. Now everything will start moving at a very fast pace and all the things you were told will really start to happen. Anyway, enough of the sad stuff!
My doctor is Richard Theriault. Here is a link to his bio...
http://www.mdanderson.org/Care_Centers/BreastCenter/display.cfm?id=F6C9C32A-54C2-4A33-8A55D955A6652BA6&method=displayFull&pn=CB79717E-7868-11D4-AEC400508BDCCE3A

I am working on getting a care calendar set up. My sister, Anne, will be the coordinator for that. The website is www.carecalendar.org the ID# is 8097 and the special code is 3972. If you have any questions call me or Anne (hm 281-342-0070, wk 281-342-1610, her cell number is listed on the calendar site) This is a work in progress and is not fully operational right now.

Again - THANK YOU ALL!!!!!!

quick update

I can't even begin to express my sincere thanks for everyone who has shared their contact information from MD Anderson. We have decided to fully explore that route and try our hardest to get an appointment VERY SOON! So I am on the phone or email, what feels like all day, trying to get in. Big thanks to Amy & Troy, we are going to borrow their fax,scanner,printer,copier combo! That will help expedite all the paper work that has to be sent. Pray we get an appointment really soon!
Terrie

decisions, decisions, decisions

THANKS to everyone for your thoughts and prayers! It means so much to me!

Jim and I are trying to decide if we should try to find a doctor at MD Anderson at least for a second opinion. Yes, they are the best in the country! I'd love to be taken care of by the best. The downside is that it usually takes 6-8 weeks to get an appointment, and the process will begin all over. Also, the traveling. With 3 kids, you really can't be gone ALL day for a simple appointment. Plus, I don't know if I want to be that far away. The commute would be tough on Jim and the rest of my family.
So here we are, what do we do? How much time should we take deciding? OOOHHH the questions with no real answers! You don't want to make the wrong one!

What the doctor said

The type of cancer I have is invasive ductal carcinoma grade 1-2, ductal carcinoma in SITU grade 2, estrogen receptor positive, and progesterone receptor positive. Because it is invasive, it has broke the barrier of the milk ducts and invaded the surrounding breast tissue. We are waiting for one more result from the biopsy. The last result will be if it is HER-2NEU equivocal positive. If that is positive then we most likely have an aggressive cancer.
What do I do now???
LOADS of tests...blood work, including testing for the breast cancer gene; PET/CT scan; bone scan; and MRI. Some of these will help determine if it has spread elsewhere.
We are at a stage II, this could change with the results of the tests.
What is the possible treatment???
surgery and chemotherapy and hormonal therapy, not sure of the order yet.
Will write more soon!
Keep me in your prayers!

How did this happen?

About a month ago I found a lump in my breast through self-examination. I was terrible about doing these. Last one done was by my OB/GYN before Jake was born.
I made an appointment with my OB. He said it was somewhat concerning and should be checked out. He gave me my orders for a mammogram and possible ultrasound. It took about 2-3 weeks before I could get those done.
My OB called me on Thursday, Sept.25. He said there were some abnormalities with my tests. He wanted me to see a breast specialist. His nurse called me the next day with an appointment made with Kelly Dempsey for Monday, Sept. 29 at 12:30. She was very concerned with what she saw. She asked for us to stay and that she would do a biopsy between her next patients. She said she would call us with the results Monday, Friday at the earliest. We got the call on Thursday afternoon. She said it was cancer and that we needed to come see her the next day.