November

• I went to see the surgeon this morning and finally got my drain removed
• She was so impressed at how quickly I've healed that she got right in front of me and said, "Aren't you amazed at how well you have done during surgery and now?"
• Doctor Tom has taken such good care of me!
• Tomorrow morning I will go to the hospital to have bone density and liver functioning tests as a baseline before the chemotherapy begins
• November 16 I will meet with my medical oncologist to discuss my treatment
• Kathy will be coming home to go to that appointment with Tom and me

• The testing yesterday went well - I'm not sure when I'll get those results
• They found out that I'm still dehydrated, so I'll go to my regular physician next Tuesday to have my blood pressure medicine re-evaluated
• I'm keeping the doctors around here busy!

• Guess what? I'm normal! Normal blood pressure, normal liver function, and normal bone density
• The doctor said that the blood pressure medicine I'm taking doesn't have a diuretic in it and can't be responsible for my dehydration.
• It could be the lidocaine that I had during the biopsy.
• Her suggestion was to drink more. I think she meant water!!

• Tom, Kathy, and I met with the medical oncologist today
• My cancer is Stage IIB
• Without any further treatment my ten-year survival chances would be 50/50
• He recommends chemotherapy because there is a chance that cancer cells have spread to other parts of my body
• This Thursday, November 18, I will have four CAT scans: chest, abdomen, brain, and bone
• I also will have a MUGA scan to detect any hidden heart disease
• Next week the surgeon will install a port on my upper chest, which will be used to administer the chemotherapy drugs and other medications
• On November 30 I will have my first chemotherapy treatment
• I will have a treatment every two weeks for 16 weeks
• After the chemo is finished, I will have radiation therapy
• We learned a lot from this doctor today, but he could learn a little from us about patience and understanding
• I'm ready to get this started so I can get it over with!

• I had all the CAT scans and the MUGA scan yesterday - chemo should be a breeze after all that!
• We're hoping to get the scan results from the hospital on Tuesday, November 23
• The surgeon can't install my port until November 30, so my chemo will not begin until December 1

• No test results today - we'll check on them again tomorow
• On Monday, November 29 I'll be seeing a different oncologist to get a second opinion on my chemotherapy treatments
• I'm still scheduled to have my port installed on Tuesday, November 30
• When I see the surgeon on Tuesday we'll discuss the two oncologists and decide which one I'll be seeing for my care

• Tom, Marlene (my sister), and I went to see the second oncologist today, Dr. Knapp
• We all liked him very much; he will be my new oncologist
• We took the lab reports of the scans with us for him to explain the results
• I have five lesions on my liver, the largest is 2" in diameter
• He said to forget about my breast cancer for now, it's more important to find out whether these liver lesions are tumors or cysts
• He will schedule an ultrasound and needle biopsy as soon as possible
• These tests will determine whether cancer is present, and if so, what kind of cancer it is (the same as my breast cancer or something different)
• If cancerous, he will outline a course of treatment
• I also have a small spot on one of my lungs, but he's not worried about that
• I will still have Dr. Martinez install the port tomorrow afternoon at 1:45
• The good news is that the rest of the scans were normal (brain, bone, abdomen, pelvis, heart)

• Today Tom and I visited my home-away-from-home, Mt. Carmel East
• I was there a total of five hours to get my port installed and all went well
• Dr. Martinez took good care of me again
• I haven't heard yet about a date for my liver biopsy - I'll call tomorrow to check on that