I meet with Dr. Panwella tomorrow to have my pre-radiation appointment. This is when I will be tatooed with the marks for radiation. This is my way of "thinking positive" that I won't get a report that I must do chemo. Maybe denial - but I choose positive thinking instead.
When I return to the Oncologist on February 1st - if I need chemo, I will have to re-do this appointment with Radiation Oncologist in several months when I finish chemo and have recovered. If I DO NOT need chemo - then I am ready to start that week.
Either way - I will make it! There are so many praying for and with me I cant NOT make it!
TIP Training has taken much of my time the last 2 weeks - so it has been a great distraction with a good class. The last 30 days really seemed to fly by and I have had time to obsess about what is ahead for me.
Mom arrives on Saturday to be here for the big "reveal"aapointment. It will be nice to have her here for a whole week! Doesn't matter how old you get - you still want your mom there to help you through the tough times and to celebrate the good ones. Thank GOD for moms!
Thanks for your thoughts and prayers - keep them coming!
Much Love,
June
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Do Chemo or NO Chemo - That is the Question!
Greg and I met with Dr. Seligman and his PA Lisa Radcliff this morning.
Once again I found myself thinking that this would be the appointment that answered all the questions and finalized "the plan". Not so!
Dr. Seligman strongly encouraged me (us) to authorize the Oncotype DX Test which is a DNA test of my tumor. This will give him an answer to the Chemo or NO Chemo question. As I understand it - before this test was available, I would of been set up on a chemo schedule at today's appointment. Now, this test is available and allows science to take over the answer the question "Will June benefit from chemo?". If there is a chance that chemo will not benefit me then he doesn't want to put me through it. That is all good news for me. However, the bad news is that this test takes 3 weeks to process. Ughhh!
So - when I go back to see him on February 1st, he will either say yes - the test agrees that you need chemo. Then I will have the port put in that day and start chemo that week. OR---he will say that the results of the test indicate that chemo is not a benefit and I will start my 6 weeks of radiation that week.
Either way I feel like I am being "taken care of" and that feels good. Maybe I don't need chemo or maybe I am being given some "time" to get use to the idea. It was much more emotional to see the chemo floor and talk with him than I anticipated it would be. I don't know what it is suppose to "feel" like - but I do know that it "feels" like I have been doing this for a long time already.
More to come!
June
Once again I found myself thinking that this would be the appointment that answered all the questions and finalized "the plan". Not so!
Dr. Seligman strongly encouraged me (us) to authorize the Oncotype DX Test which is a DNA test of my tumor. This will give him an answer to the Chemo or NO Chemo question. As I understand it - before this test was available, I would of been set up on a chemo schedule at today's appointment. Now, this test is available and allows science to take over the answer the question "Will June benefit from chemo?". If there is a chance that chemo will not benefit me then he doesn't want to put me through it. That is all good news for me. However, the bad news is that this test takes 3 weeks to process. Ughhh!
So - when I go back to see him on February 1st, he will either say yes - the test agrees that you need chemo. Then I will have the port put in that day and start chemo that week. OR---he will say that the results of the test indicate that chemo is not a benefit and I will start my 6 weeks of radiation that week.
Either way I feel like I am being "taken care of" and that feels good. Maybe I don't need chemo or maybe I am being given some "time" to get use to the idea. It was much more emotional to see the chemo floor and talk with him than I anticipated it would be. I don't know what it is suppose to "feel" like - but I do know that it "feels" like I have been doing this for a long time already.
More to come!
June
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