Doctor's update

I have chemo #4 tomorrow (Thursday) so I thought this would be as good a time as any to do a little medical update.  I had a mammogram on Monday to check the progress of how well the chemo is working.  Great news- it's working very well and has shrunk the tumor to the point that the radiologist can't see any evidence of it.  Yay!

I had an oncology appointment yesterday and he outlined the rest of my treatment going forward.  After tomorrrow's chemo (the last of the "harsh" variety- 4 meds: Taxotere, Carboplatijn, Herceptin, and Perjeta), any infusions I receive will be shorter and have relatively little side effects.  I will also not need to do the chemo cold caps anymore.  That will be awesome!  My next infusion (not technically chemo) will be on August 16.  It will be targeting/blocking the HER2 receptors.  I won't go into too many details but HER2 is essentially a type of hormone that my cancer tested positive for.  I will have to do at least 12 of these infusions, every 3 weeks.

I will have lumpectomy surgery on July 30, which should be an outpatient procedure.  At some point in the next few weeks I will have a consultation appointment with the radiation oncology department.  I will have to do 4-6 weeks of radiation, 5 days a week.

In about 3 weeks, I have to start a prescription called an arotamase inhibitor and will have to take it for 5-10 years.  This helps prevent recurrence from happening by blocking estrogen that would make cancer grow.  In addition to the arotamase inhibitor, I have to get an ovary suppression injection every 3 months- menopause here I come!  Can't wait for that... <insert eyeroll>.  I also have to get an injection every 6 months to prevent osteoporosis, which is apparently a side effect of this whole cocktail.

That's probably more than you ever wanted to know about breast cancer treatment...  questions?  Let me know.  I'm glad to answer them, especially if it helps someone else who may go through this.