Treatment plan and Cancermoon

Post surgery recovery and return to work

It’s been a little over 4 weeks since my surgery and I’m feeling really good. Literally better every day. Still working on getting back to my full mobility via daily exercises and physical therapy, but walking on the treadmill and outside whenever possible (my sister in law and I did a 4-miler this past weekend 💪🏼). I also started back to work on Monday and it felt awesome to 1) be active all day engaging with people and 2) use my brain on stuff that I actually know about as opposed to cancer! It was an amazing feeling to be welcomed back to such a supportive company and team – felt like a warm, familiar hug 🙂

Go forward treatment plan

Last week we met Dr Jonathan Strauss (NM radiation oncologist). He knew my situation well since Dr Hansen (surgeon) presented my case to the team so they could discuss. He spent a lot of time talking with us which was really helpful. In short, the unclear posterior margin appears to be the result of my small frame/breast size vs. an aggressively growing cancer. Given the margins and micromet in my sentinel node, he recommends 3 weeks of radiation.

On Monday, we met with Dr Gini Fleming, medical oncologist from UChicago for a second opinion. About 5 minutes before our scheduled appointment, my oncotype results came back which could not have been better timing. Our incredible Internist saw the results and immediately sent them over so we could discuss during our appointment. For those unfamiliar, the Oncotype DX tests specific genes in the breast tumor tissue to help predict the chance of recurrence and response to chemotherapy. The test generates a score between 1-100. Mine was 25 which is unfortunately not low, but rather on the high end of the intermediate range. Studies show that women under 50 years old with oncotype scores between 16-25 receive a small benefit from adding chemotherapy to endocrine therapy. This, combined with my unclear margin and micromet in my 1 sentinel node means that I will be going through 4 rounds (12 weeks in total) of TC chemo prior to radiation. Both medical oncologists from NM and UChicago had the same recommendation. My assessment: I’m NOT thrilled I need to do chemo, BUT thankful it’s the lighter of the 2 types of chemo AND happy I received the same recommendation from both doctors. I’m also feeling great about staying with NM, under the care of Dr Lisa Flaum and Dr Jonathan Strauss. My call with Dr Flaum today was informative, supportive and reassuring. As one friend told me early on, your medical oncologist is like your quarterback, so be sure you feel 100% confident with the person you choose – and I definitely do!

In terms of timing, I hope to start chemo on April 12th, and will lock everything down by end of week.

Cancermoon and chemo-prep

We spontaneously decided on a last minute trip to sunny AZ before my treatment begins. I’m calling it my Cancermoon – like honeymoon (after the wedding) and babymoon (before the baby)… for me this is after surgery and before treatment. Looking forward to some sun and relaxation before heading into the next phase of my BC Adventure!

Advice and support

I plan to do some research over the next week and would love any and all pre-chemo recommendations/advice. The one thing I am most interested in learning more about is cold cap therapy – a technique that can potentially help prevent/reduce hair loss during chemo. That being said, Mia told me that “I could totally rock a bald head” so I’m feeling pretty good about whatever happens to my hair ❤️

Thank you to those who have contributed to the meal train, offered to go on walks, meet at Midtown, grab a meal, etc. It’s been great to catch up and NOT talk about me or my adventure – so let’s keep that going through my treatment!

I am feeling really confident about my plan and realistic about the next few months ahead. Similar to my approach with surgery, I’m taking it one step at a time while keeping perspective.

XO 😘

Just a random picture of Buddy because he’s so dang cute ❤️