Happy Birthday to me!
Today is my birthday! I love my birthday. 41 years old. Today it truly is "all about me."
OK - enough of that - back to the cancer crap
Phil and I met with Dr. Sacher the oncology radiologist at Metrowest Medical. We learned alot about radiation treatment and breast cancer in general. Long story short -> lumpectomy+radiation is really all about cosmetic appearance. "how much breast preservation are you going for?"
There are the whole radiation side effects to consider. The only one I consider noteworthy is the increased risk of sarcoma. The normal population has a 0.1% chance of sarcoma and a radiated person has 0.2% chance. But one telling comment, was "since you're only 41" - meaning that if I were older than the increased sarcoma risk wouldn't even be noteworthy.
Really all of the next treatment steps hinge on meeting with the surgeons. The post surgery treatment won't be determined until after the pathology report comes in. The semifinal rounds for surgeons vying for my insurance dollars are scheduled for Monday March 6th and Thursday March 9th. My goal is to have the surgery date by Friday March 10th. [not have the surgery on Friday but just to have it scheduled]
The one downer for the day was that Dr Sacher thought simple mastectomy recovery was on the order of at least 4 weeks. There go any April school vacation plans. ugh
But on a high note - did I tell you today is my birthday?!
OK - enough of that - back to the cancer crap
Phil and I met with Dr. Sacher the oncology radiologist at Metrowest Medical. We learned alot about radiation treatment and breast cancer in general. Long story short -> lumpectomy+radiation is really all about cosmetic appearance. "how much breast preservation are you going for?"
There are the whole radiation side effects to consider. The only one I consider noteworthy is the increased risk of sarcoma. The normal population has a 0.1% chance of sarcoma and a radiated person has 0.2% chance. But one telling comment, was "since you're only 41" - meaning that if I were older than the increased sarcoma risk wouldn't even be noteworthy.
Really all of the next treatment steps hinge on meeting with the surgeons. The post surgery treatment won't be determined until after the pathology report comes in. The semifinal rounds for surgeons vying for my insurance dollars are scheduled for Monday March 6th and Thursday March 9th. My goal is to have the surgery date by Friday March 10th. [not have the surgery on Friday but just to have it scheduled]
The one downer for the day was that Dr Sacher thought simple mastectomy recovery was on the order of at least 4 weeks. There go any April school vacation plans. ugh
But on a high note - did I tell you today is my birthday?!
posted by Jennifer at 8:59 AM
1 Comments:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
I just wanted to add 2 cents on your masectomy/lumpectomy discussion.. I don't think it is just a matter of breast preservation. You also need to think of the scar. There are women out there that are proud of their masectomy scars, but it is truly a drastic change in appearance.
But more importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
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