This past week was a real ratcheting up of the emotional intensity in dealing with this interloper into our lives. We met with two surgeons who helped us first understand the decisions Melissa needs to make on one level and who gave us a lot to do to help her make the decisions about the nature of the surgeries in her future. With the second surgeon, we scheduled the first step in the surgical journey. The mastectomy. Man, there is a lot to think about with respect to reconstruction. How does one go about choosing a surgeon? We have looked over so many websites and we have had to deal with the fact that the procedure that Melissa most likely needs to have is not offered at her hospital, and that we might have to go away (as far away as New Orleans) to get the preferred procedure at a facility devoted to breast cancer treatment.
Needless to say, we are almost overwhelmed by the information we need to process to make a good series of decisions...So far, we know this...Melissa is scheduled for the first of several surgeries at the moment on May 26th here in town.
Next up visits with many plastic surgeons so that we can learn about the options Melissa has with respect to breast construction.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
To the Surgeons
This week, starting today, we begin interviewing surgeons. Our approach is to talk to first the surgeon who is highly recommended but not on Missy's plan to get answers to questions and to learn more about what they are thinking about before going on to talk to the surgeon we have selected to do the procedure. We want to meet with the surgeon who will do the surgery with our eyes wide open. Its a big day today because this step shifts the focus from investigation to action.
Once we have met both surgeons, we will set a surgery date and and move on. With each cycle of action, we get closet to the day that Melissa is free of cancer.
Once we have met both surgeons, we will set a surgery date and and move on. With each cycle of action, we get closet to the day that Melissa is free of cancer.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Getting the news
We learned about Melissa's diagnosis after she had a biopsy following a DIGITAL mammogram. The doc spoke the words "Ductal Carcinoma In Situ" (DCIS)- of course what you hear is "You have cancer!" But after the first moments of shock, we started our research. Luckily a friend had done a lot of research since his wife also has DCIS, and that gave us a glimpse into the subject. But the Mammo was followed up with a contrast MRI and a second round of biopsies, and it was made clear to us that this slow growing form of cancer has been around for a while.
The best thing we did was go to Hawaii for a week where, armed with yet more research from a Breast Cancer Center in Missouri, we were able to form a scientifically validated opinion about the situation, frame our questions and generally come to the place where we realized that "Melissa" doesn't have cancer, her breast tissue has some cancer cells in the plumbing between the milk glands and the nipple. And that we are going to beat this. Period.
Luckily, DCIS is slow growing, non-invasive and not very aggressive form. But 30% of DCIS goes on to become invasive cancer, only we are not certain as to which 30%, so we need to act. Our doc believes that in Melissa's case, hers is more likely to progress to invasive cancer if left alone, which further prompts us to action.
Action on the calendar includes visits with breast surgeons, and genetic testing. We have some work to do to make final decisions, but the way things look, in this situation, Melissa is facing a mastectomy to ensure that she rids her body of DCIS, and along with the Mastectomy of course, she will have breast reconstruction. The big question on our minds this week is this: Should she have a bilateral or a unilateral procedure? We will ponder this and get input from the surgeons, but we are leaning this way because she is going to have to have surgery on her left breast as well during the reconstruction phase, and because the risk of invasive cancer in the uninvolved breast is increased when DCIS is present in the the other. Our view is why risk it, an ounce of prevention could be worth a pound of cure. One advantage of a Mastectomy as an approach is that Melissa will not need chemo or radiation as long as the margin (space between the tumor and the chest wall) in surgery is as it is on the MRI.
Thats where we are as of today.
The best thing we did was go to Hawaii for a week where, armed with yet more research from a Breast Cancer Center in Missouri, we were able to form a scientifically validated opinion about the situation, frame our questions and generally come to the place where we realized that "Melissa" doesn't have cancer, her breast tissue has some cancer cells in the plumbing between the milk glands and the nipple. And that we are going to beat this. Period.
Luckily, DCIS is slow growing, non-invasive and not very aggressive form. But 30% of DCIS goes on to become invasive cancer, only we are not certain as to which 30%, so we need to act. Our doc believes that in Melissa's case, hers is more likely to progress to invasive cancer if left alone, which further prompts us to action.
Action on the calendar includes visits with breast surgeons, and genetic testing. We have some work to do to make final decisions, but the way things look, in this situation, Melissa is facing a mastectomy to ensure that she rids her body of DCIS, and along with the Mastectomy of course, she will have breast reconstruction. The big question on our minds this week is this: Should she have a bilateral or a unilateral procedure? We will ponder this and get input from the surgeons, but we are leaning this way because she is going to have to have surgery on her left breast as well during the reconstruction phase, and because the risk of invasive cancer in the uninvolved breast is increased when DCIS is present in the the other. Our view is why risk it, an ounce of prevention could be worth a pound of cure. One advantage of a Mastectomy as an approach is that Melissa will not need chemo or radiation as long as the margin (space between the tumor and the chest wall) in surgery is as it is on the MRI.
Thats where we are as of today.
Getting Started
So this could be a pretty hard blog to write, but perhaps doing so will be a good thing. We think that this way, it will be easier to keep our friends and family informed as to Melissa's progress. Sometimes I will post and at others, Melis' will. We encourage those who wish to follow along with Melissa's progress to subscribe to the blog. I can say that we really appreciate the words of support that everybody has offered. Thank you.
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