I did see Dr. Caudrelier this week - not much news there except that I've got one extra session of radiation tacked on to the end - so instead of 28 sessions I'll have 29. I'll be getting 23 regular treatments (to my chest and back of my shoulder) and then after 23 I'll have six 'boosters' which are targeted treatments right at my incision site. So that will take me to March 30th. You are probably wondering - what's next? Well you'll have to wait and find out, I have an appointment with Dr. Dent on March 31 to touch base and figure out what's what.
Also, an update on the tumour lab results - this first bit took me a bit to figure out and then once I did, digest it all. So, the tumour cells that they removed are graded out of a score of 9. 0 is 'normal' and 9 is like 'super freaky'. They classify them 1 to 3 (the closest to normal cells), 4 to 6, 7 to 9 (the furthest away from normal cells). Mine scored and 8/9 - that's right - in the 'super freaky' category. I keep thinking of that song Super Freak. Anyway, that's not really good news - but its not a surprise - triple negative breast cancer is the most aggressive and that's one of the reasons why - the cancer cells are super freaky (cue the music).
I think I mentioned in previous posts that they were also testing for the receptor status on the tumours to see if they might not be triple negative - rather that they had an estrogen (or progesterone) receptors - that means the tumour also feeds off of hormones. The bonus is that if it was, there are more treatment options after chemo and radiation. But, alas my tumours were triple negative, not a single estrogen receptor. Dr. Craig had told me that even if 10% of the tumour was estrogen positive that they would give me additional medication so I was keeping my fingers crossed but nope Dr. Caudrelier told me it was zero, not one little cell using hormones as its breakfast of champions.
On a more positive note, I've been using my new gym membership pretty much daily - Goodlife is not making any money off of me! I've got a good routine going - getting up, going to gym, coming home and getting ready for radiation and then a trip to the dog park or errands. On Mondays, I also go to acupuncture with Tran and he continues to work on my cording, lecturing me about going to bed at 10 pm and helping to reduce my hot flashes. Last week I got needles on the bottom of my feet - it was crazy! Afterwards I checked my feet twice to make sure the needles were gone before I jumped off the bed. The OICC has a few new videos that I've posted on my Facebook page but I thought I'd also include them here. The first one is Dr. Craig talking about breast cancer prevention and the second one is Hippie Bruce talking about the benefits of acupuncture:
Dr. Craig
Hippie Bruce
I've also met a new cancer-friend! I know, I know I declared a few months ago that I did not want to be around people with cancer but I've made an exception for my new friend Preety. We met through our mutual friends Anne and Jordan and I must say, its really great to chat with someone who is going through a similar experience and also to give back a bit - with all of the help, cancer presents and good vibes I've gotten from all of you its nice to be able to pass that onto someone else. Don't worry its not all depressing, we have some good laughs too because if you can't laugh at things like cancer in your thirties - what else can you do?
My Dad was also up for a visit so that kept me busy too. We did lots of things - visited the War Museum, went to a few brew pubs and just hung out. Its always nice to have someone visiting because it gives me someone to talk to especially in the mornings - other than the dogs of course. Dom took Monday off to hang out with us and we spent part of the afternoon at a pub watching soccer.
You can tell I'm really interested taking photos in a pub.
Oh and I am in the second phase of a breast cancer study - I did the first phase already that was a series of questionnaires and then they took blood and urine samples. The second phase is here at home - two really nice people from Health Canada came to my house and set up this machine in our bedroom that measures temperature, humidity and takes constant air samples. They also took swabs of my hands and did an inventory of my house - TVs, laptops and questions about how much we watch TV or are on our phones. Here's the air sampler in our bedroom:
And, it wouldn't be a blog without an update on Joan Lunden and my hair! Let's start with Joan - she's all finished her treatments and even got invited to a Breast Cancer Conference in Miami but here's what I do want to draw to your attention. I know I poke fun at JL but we really do lead parallel lives with this whole cancer thing and here is her last video blog during her treatment and I have to say, I couldn't have said it better myself - I have the same sort of thoughts and feelings right now. Joan Lunden's video
My hair continues to grow - in fact, I sort of have almost given up wearing my wigs because I've got a full head of hair and its getting longer every day. I didn't have the patchy spots grow like everyone said I would, its all very even - so I don't know if its my young age or my good genes (my Dad told me about all of the men on his side that have thick hair and he does too) but I'm lucky. So by the time I go back to work I don't think I'll be wearing a wig - besides if I do, eventually I'll stop and my hair will be really short anyway. The only downfall is that I have a lot of gray hair and the colour isn't great - sort of mousy - but I can't colour my hair for at least a year or two from now (one of the many things I have to confirm with Dr. Dent when I see her in March). Dom's mom told me I look younger but then Dom told her to put on her glasses so that she can see all of my gray hair - haha. All in all, I'm just glad I have hair again and that it seems just as thick, if not thicker than it was before. I still look exactly like Carol on the Walking Dead.
So that's it for this week - I hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine. In the words of Robin Williams:
Spring is nature's way of saying 'Let's Party!'
