6 E-mail: update

3/6/2006

Today I spoke with doctors; made appointments; asked questions; set a tentative schedule for things. We met with the breast surgeon this afternoon and left with big smiles.

The margins were clean!

What happened in the surgery was that the doctor removed the lump. It looked like cancer to her so she sent it to the hospital lab. They froze a section and confirmed it was cancer. Extending the surgery time, she then removed a significant section of breast tissue around the cancerous site, hoping that the cancer hadn’t spread. I have become the youngest patient she’s seen to have this drastic of a condition and I am the first pregnant cancer patient she has operated upon. When she cut away the extra tissue, the texture of the tissue was consistent with pre-cancerous cells but pregnancy changes the consistency of breast tissue so her usual guides for determining pre-cancer versus normal tissue didn’t apply.

The preliminary pathology report came back today and confirmed our hope and my instinct. She got all of the cancerous cells in and around the lump. She won’t have to open me up again at the same site to remove more breast tissue. There is no need to progress to a mastectomy at this time. Whew!

Because I am so young to endure what’s happened, my doctor is convinced there is a genetic factor at play here. I plan to submit to genetic testing tomorrow. Wednesday I’ll meet with an oncologist to discuss my upcoming chemotherapy treatments.

Friday I’ll go to a different specialist who will perform the amniocentesis to check our baby’s lung development. We’ll get those test results back maybe late Friday or early Saturday. If the baby is far enough along, then I’ll check into the hospital next Monday and they’ll induce labor. By then the breast surgeon will be out of town for spring break.

I’ll meet with the breast surgeon a week after Kelric is born for a checkup and we will likely schedule a surgery for a couple of days later to remove one or more lymph nodes under my arm to make sure the cancer hasn’t spread outside the breast. Chemotherapy will probably start the following week.

So I’ve got a medically induced labor coming up, but I’m not facing a C-section. That will be better for my baby’s respiratory system. I’m still facing an additional surgery and chemotherapy, but they won’t be back-to-back with the birth. I can live with this schedule.

Things are subject to change, but I’m at peace with the current plan.

The margins were clean. Today is a day for celebration because that’s a major hurdle we just cleared. :-)

Love,
Angela

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