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Last Radiation Dec 12, 2022

Immunotherapy Dec 15 and every three weeks afterwards (until at least July)

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I've Got Cancer

  So, it's official...I've got cancer. I wasn't surprised to hear those words. Sometimes you just have a feeling. We are still waiting for some results from pathology that will provide us with more details about the type of cancer. This information will be important for deciding on the sequence of treatment. The initial report shows that I have cancer in my breast and also in the axillary lymph node they biopsied. Based on our conversation with the doctor today, we are fairly certain that both chemotherapy and surgery will be required. On Monday I have an appointment with a surgeon and hopefully by then we will have most/all of the information we need to figure out what happens next. A good piece of news is that my bone scan was clear! I was very happy to hear this, because when you think you might have cancer you have the tendency to over-analyze little aches and pains. I'm glad my hips only ache because of 'old age.' ;) I am in very good hands. We are so thank...
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Check Out My Heart!

Image
This morning I had an echocardiogram to check on my heart health before I begin my treatment. Cancer treatment can sometimes be hard on the heart, so getting a good picture of my current heart health will help us identify if there are any changes over time. This was, of course, another opportunity to geek out a little bit. The 'echo' is an ultrasound of the heart. It took about 30 minutes to take the required images. They gather information about the heart muscle, the valves, and blood flow. After all of the images and videos were collected, the technician showed me a whole bunch of them. To look at blood flow they use doppler imaging, so the colour of something (in this case blood) moving towards the probe is different than the colour of something moving away from the probe. Very cool to see. I wish I had an image to share with you.  I got a peek at several different parts of my heart including a really nice cross-section of my aortic valve (which is a normal, healthy tricuspi...
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Progress

Yesterday I made some phone calls to follow up on my upcoming appointment schedule. A CT scan and biopsy had been scheduled. The CT scan will be March 28th. The date for the biopsy was set for early April which was much later than I had expected, so I had myself added to the cancellation list. I was pretty devastated at the idea of waiting that long to have a concrete diagnosis, and reached out to my contact at RVH to make sure there was nothing else I could do to speed up the process. This morning, because of the amazing advocacy of a doctor, I was invited to come in for my biopsy TODAY. I cannot tell you what an incredible relief it was to hear that news. I got home from my biopsy an hour or so ago. The doctor took a sample from the lump as well as from a lymph node in my armpit. Titanium is a new element to add to my collection as they left a small piece inside the lump - 'x' marks the spot.  I will find out the results of the biopsy next Friday. In the meantime I will be wo...
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