What? More Chemo??

October 3, 2008 - I saw the oncologist today. I went in prepared today to talk to him about my follow up: how much vitamin D should I be taking, what's the plan for blood tests, how long should I wait before starting reconstruction, etc.

This hit me like a ton of bricks. The six months of chemo worked well. It reduced the tumor from 4 cm down to 1.2 cm. The problem is that I didn't have a "complete response". In other words, the cancer that was left was still active. It could have spread through the blood supply and "set up house" in other organs (most likely are liver, lungs, brain, bone). It's likely that it didn't spread through the lymph system because the lymph nodes were negative, but it could have. All it takes is one cell getting "loose" and making it's way to another spot.

Here's the deal. The kind of breast cancer I have is THE most aggressive kind there is. It is known as triple negative. Reconstruction is on hold. The oncologist is ordering a bone scan and a special blood test. I need to heal from the surgery and then we will make a plan. He did say it was very likely that I will need another 3 months of chemo. I see the oncologist again on October 23rd to review test results and we'll go from there. Please continue to keep me and my family in your thoughts and prayers.