Three down, nine to go in this current chemo regimen, and I am successful most days at taking one day at a time. Chemotherapy is the third step of this cancer journey with more to come. In scanning my past blog posts, I realized I had not shared the complete "treatment" picture with you yet... so, for those of you interested, here it goes:
Step 1: The Diagnosis - 4 words: "get your routine screenings". It is so important! And what's a little discomfort for a few seconds to increase your probability of catching cancer early when it's still treatable? Had it not been for my routine mammogram, my cancer would have quickly spread through my lymphatic system to other organs.
Step 2: The Surgery - For some people this is a lumpectomy, a removal of the cancerous tumor and surrounding tissue. I opted for the double (bi-lateral) mastectomy early on, and later found that based on both the outcome of the surgery and the genetic test results, a double mastectomy was inevitable. Along with the surgery comes the lymph node removal and biopsy, a critical step in identifying whether the cancer has likely spread, and to what degree. It's not fail proof, but testing the lymph nodes gives a good indication. For me, cancer had spread to 1 lymph node, and only in a small way; while not "perfect" this is good news.
Step 3: The Chemotherapy. Phase 1 is the administration of 2 drugs (adriamycin and cyctoxan) which work together to kill off any cells that are replicating quickly: cancer cells, hair follicles, white blood cells. These are the drugs that give breast cancer chemo it's bad reputation, as the side effects can be severe. Thank goodness for new anti-nausea drugs. Phase 2 swaps the 2 drugs for 1 (taxol), which attacks the bone marrow and temporarily shuts down the production of new blood cells in hopes of killing off any cancer cells that may have eluded the 1st round. This is my current phase.
Step 4: The PET Scan. When the chemo is done, a PET scan is done of the body from head to toe to see if any signs of cancer remain. Breast cancer typically goes from the breast to the brain or the reproductive organs. A PET scan is what gives us the "all clear". Limited lymph node involvement gives us reason to be very hopeful as to the outcome of my future PET scan.
Step 5: The Prescription. For women who's cancer feeds off of estrogen pills are prescribed that will block the normal production of hormones. Different drugs are given based on whether "at risk" reproductive organs will be removed or remain. Having tested positive for the breast cancer gene, mine will be removed, which takes us to...
Step 6: The 2nd Surgery. There are currently no reliable screenings for ovarian or uterine cancer, so removal of these organs is an important step in reducing the risk of cancer reoccurrence with women who test positive for the breast cancer gene. Once the PET scan provides the "all clear", surgery is scheduled for a full hysterectomy. Chemotherapy typically shuts down the normal reproductive process, essentially throwing you into a chemically induced menopause; the surgery takes care of the rest.
Step 7: The Reconstruction. After a period of healing, breast reconstruction can be scheduled. Reconstruction requires 3 separate surgeries, separated by a period of healing. Each surgery becomes less invasive and has a shorter healing period.
Step 8: The Recheck. Once cancer free, there are regularly scheduled rechecks scheduled to make sure you remain cancer free. This is a life-long process.
And that, in a rather large nutshell, is the treatment. So we take one day at a time, and try to focus on the process at hand and not what may or may not occur in the future.
Live for today, learn from the past, have faith in the future.
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