Checking in on Amy

This afternoon I got some news I wasn't expecting. The genetic counsellor called to let me know that I was NEGATIVE for all nine of the breast-cancer-related gene mutations they tested me for. (Negative = GOOD in case you have forgotten!) I didn't realize how much I was expecting to hear that I had a bad gene until I found out I didn't. Now, of course, there are potentially 'bad' copies of other genes out there that we aren't aware of yet, but I will still count this as a win. During the call I also elected to go ahead with a larger panel of genetic testing for other genes linked to non-breast cancers and will find out more about those results soon. This was a great way to end the day. I got to spend today with kid #1 and was glad for her company, so the day was already shaping up to be a good one. :)

This morning I met my medical oncologist. There was LOTS of information shared at this appointment, but I'll cut to the important bits. My first chemo treatment will be Thursday April 14th. (Mom...I know I said it was the 15th but they switched it, I swear!) I'm going to have a PICC line put in next Wednesday. My MRI will happen Thursday morning before my chemo treatment. Six chemo treatments are planned, with each treatment 3 weeks apart. In terms of side effects we expect the 'usual' ones (hair loss, nausea, fatigue, joint/muscle/bone pain, etc.) but also some bigger long-term ones. My ovaries are not going to survive the treatment so it looks like I'm going to truck right on past perimenopause and bring on the real thing. Awesomesauce. Lol. It's funny how 'big' news like that seems like it's not that bad when you are focused on a much bigger problem.  In other news, we have spent lots of time the last few days working on re-locating daughter #2 to...

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...