Do yourself a favor and follow this link...

This interview aired back in January on C-SPAN's Q&A program. It contains some very important information concerning cancer prevention from someone who should know - the volunteer president of the American Cancer Society. His story - and his mother's - are very interesting, as is his perspective on health care. It's a little long (the interview was one hour), but very much worth the read. I advise that you read the transcript rather than viewing the video because the sound quality combined with his accent may make the viewing difficult.

http://www.q-and-a.org/Program/?ProgramID=1163

"No surgery for you!"

I just came from a very happy meeting with my surgeon. He explained to me that the margins - all of them - are quite clear. One of them - the so called "deep" margin, which was on the side of the tumor closest to the chest wall, or furthest from the skin - was a very thin margin: only 1 mm. It was the most he could excise without cutting into my chest muscle which would have been a different thing altogether (essentially, a mastectomy). So he took all of the tissue he could, and that tissue was clear. He explained that there would be no point in going back and biopsying the chest muscle, since all of the margin which was removed was clear. I am satisfied on this point. And thrilled at the work he has done for me, and told him so. The tumor did measure 1.9 cm, which is 1 mm shy of the 2 cm threshold for stage 2. The cancer is positive for estrogen and progesterone receptors and negative for HER2 receptors, which are all good things. He also explained that while the cancer has not entered my lymph nodes, it is on its way there. For this reason, as well as that of the size of the tumor, my oncologist (who should be assigned shortly) will be advising me on whether or not to pursue chemotherapy in addition to radiation therapy. In any event, I will have five to six weeks of radiation as well as five years of hormone therapy. The oncologist will enter all of the specifics of my particular situation into a computer program, which will return information concerning the relative benefits of chemotherapy. If the data shows that the chemotherapy would be beneficial in my case, that's what I will do. My understanding is that the oncologist will then refer me for the chemo and/or radiation treatments. So, I'm back in waiting mode, but feeling very, very lucky indeed! The arm pain is also gradually improving (I said it was an inflamed nerve but it's actually an inflamed vein). Thanks to all of you for your kindness, caring, support, and good wishes these past few weeks. It has meant the world to me and I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life! Thank you. I will continue to update as I learn more.

The results are in!

But the doctor is out. Yes, my sugeon is off for a couple of days, so I won't get to talk to him about this until next week. But I have learned that the final pathology report (released late yesteday) shows that there were no cancer cells found in the biopsied lymph nodes! That is exceedingly good news. Also, the tumor measured 1.9 cm, which makes it a stage 1 cancer, which is better than stage 2 (which a tumor of 2 cm would have been considered). As I learn more about what this means for me, I will post here. Apparently, the margin of tissue surrounding the tumor is still a question mark. It may be that the surgeon will recommend additional surgery to remove more tissue from the area where the tumor was. I am all for this idea. The person I spoke to didn't want to guess at what my surgeon would recommend in this regard, but did say that the margin wasn't completely clear. At any rate, I hope to speak to the surgeon about all this Monday, but if not I do have an appointment with him on Tuesday so will learn and post more then. Meanwhile, I am bothered by inflammation of a nerve which was cut during the surgery which is causing pain in my right under/upper arm area, but this is normal and to be expected. Hoping that will ease up soon. Thanks for your continued support and good wishes! Be well.

tick tock, tick tock

Still waiting for the report....

I've been told, though, that no news is good news in this case. If there were anything worrisome going on, I would have know about it right away.

Lymph node confusion

I just realized how unclear I've been in my last couple of posts. To clarify: lymph nodes were removed on the day of surgery, but only the so-called "sentinel" node/s. This is the first node (sometimes there is more than one) in which cancer cells would turn up if they were spreading beyond the duct/tumor. The quick, initial biopsy which was performed the day of surgery revealed no cancer in the sentinel node/s; Kaiser's accuracy rate on this test is 80%. The sentinel node is then sent for further study, along with the tumor and margin which were removed. So the final pathology report which I am still waiting on will reveal whether or not there is lymph involvement, as well as the exact tumor size, and whether the margin which was removed from around the tumor was clear. All of this will inform the doctors concerning the stage of the cancer and how to proceed with treatment. As for me, I'm feeling hopelessly healthy, to quote my anesthesiologist. :D

Mission accomplished! (for now)

My surgery went exceedingly well. I did not have lymph nodes removed; however, the final pathology report on the lymph nodes takes 3-4 days. So, PLEASE continue to send positive thoughts. I am so grateful to all of you - I know your prayers and good wishes made all the difference for me today. I will post more soon.

Your mission...

Well, tomorrow's the big day. I'm very calm and not anxious or worried. I'm not working today, and will spend the day getting my mind and self ready for tomorrow. I'm having a stress-relieving massage this afternoon, and looking forward to that. The first thing the surgeon will do is a preliminary biopsy of the "sentinel lymph node." This test is performed before the lumpectomy to see whether the cancer cells have spread to the lymph system - the sentinel node (identified by a special test) is the first place the cells would go if it has spread. If there is lymph node involvement, the surgery will include removal of the tumor and a margin around it, as well as removal of lymph nodes. Recovery in that case will take a little longer, and the lymph nodes will then be biopsied further - that will take several days. But the important thing is - we don't want the lymph nodes to be involved. If you pray or think about me tomorrow, please concentrate on this positive idea: Marcia's lymph nodes are clear and healthy. Thank you! I plan to go to Mom's after the surgery for at least one night. My sister and her husband will look in on Buster while I'm away from home. Wish me luck! I'll update the blog as soon as I can. Take care of yourselves.

Interesting article about surgery choices

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23005766/from/ET/