January 3, 2019
Hi everyone! Hope you guys had a wonderful Christmas and New year!!! Mine was truly perfect. It was filled with family parties, laughter, hugs, happy tears and lots of junk food (I gained 6 pounds… totally wish I was kidding but I’m not LOL).
I really enjoyed taking a mental break from the whole “cancer” thing. I was beyond frustrated as I felt like no one was on the same page in regards to radiation and what the next step should be. The tumor board felt like it wasn’t necessary, Dr. Patel said she wasn’t sure (which I totally respect her honesty), and my oncologist was saying I needed it but was unable to give me a good reason why. I was so annoyed and stressed out! I’m so glad I said “Kel you need a break.. we will figure it out in January” 🙂
I met with Dr. Brower at Elliot Hospital yesterday. He is an oncologist who specializes in radiation. He is relatively young, easy to talk to, patient, kind, and very smart. He went into detail the reasons he felt radiation was necessary and even used the bed paper as a huge notepad to draw out diagrams and pictures so we would better understand. I cried two times during the meeting!! I was just so happy to finally get answers and CLARITY! Something I really needed in order to make this decision. He spent over an hour with us so I couldn’t possibly give all the details but this is the short version… My current recurrence rate is 6-12%. Radiation will decrease that by 50%!! He said because of my age, large tumor and high grade (meaning it grows/spreads quickly), he said my risk is higher than most. He also mentioned that even though my margins were technically negative there is NO possible way to know that for sure. Mom mentioned doing a PET scan but he said that wouldn’t pick up individual cancer cells that we would be looking for. He said we are taking the risk as you might be cancer free right now, BUT for some reason if there is even just ONE cancer cell that remains it WILL multiply and it WILL grow. There are risks to having radiation. The biggest one is developing a new type of cancer. The Xray beams (radiation) will be going across my chest and hitting ribs, lung & skin. There is only a 1-2% chance every 20 years of this occurring though. He said radiation could soften the bone so if I were hit hard I could possibly get a rib fracture. Fatigue and a sunburn to the area are the most common side effects. Radiation will be 5 1/2 weeks, Monday through Friday. He explained that we are somewhat crunched for time as radiation needs to start within 20 weeks of surgery or it won’t be as effective. I asked how time would make a difference and he said “lets just say there is 1 cancer cell left right now. If we radiate now you are only fighting 1 cell instead of possibly 100 6 weeks from now”. He said Dr. Burdette (my reconstructive breast surgeon) would like to put the implants in first because research has shown that putting them in first will increase your rate of keeping them in the future and not failing. We would then need to wait 6 weeks for recovery and then start radiation. I was like WAIT… what do YOU think is best. I said YOUR opinion is what matters right now. Cancer needs to come first, cosmetics second. He said his opinion would be to start sooner than later. He said now that I know where you’re coming from I will talk to Dr. Burdette and see if he would be willing to put the implants in after radiation. I know my risk of implants working will lessen but if I am going to go through with this I need it to WORK and work well. We left his office and I just felt GOOD. Literally 5 minutes down the road Dr. Brower called me and told me he spoke with Dr. Burdette and he is willing to wait. I was so impressed how quickly he got back to me. My “medical team” now feels complete 😊 Thank you Dr. Brower!!!
So I have an appointment on Tuesday to do a SIM and measurements. I am assuming radiation will start shortly after this!!
PS. Nimbus9 (my brother-in-laws band) will be playing at The Derryfield Country Club on Saturday January 19th at 9:30pm to benefit me!! Thank you sister for putting this event together. I feel very blessed and thankful that the band and venue is willing to do this for us. We will be receiving 1/2 the cover charge which is absolutely amazing! Nimbus9 is beyond talented and always put on an AMAZING show! Come and dance with me and WEAR PINK 🙂
Kelly’s Breast Cancer Blog 🎀 