Early April Update

Jill is now a week and a half past her last treatment.  As is the normal pattern, she was feeling fairly good this weekend.  Unlike all past treatments – she has no treatment this week (or again).  Yeah.  She had her ultrasound and MRI last week to make sure the cancer is all gone.  We have no official results as of yet (will get them when we talk to the breast surgeon), but the ultrasound tech said they could not find anything in the breast and they only found one lymph node and it was tiny, which is great.  We meet with the breast surgeon on Thursday and at that point we suspect  that the next phase of this will be fully revealed.  I mean, we tentatively know what is coming, but I think we will get some dates and a timeline.  Dr. Schmidt gave us a tentative plan from day one, but since then has been very keen on us only focusing on the part at hand.  This has been somewhat challenging based on the fact that Jill and I are planners . . . but I think he is right to do it.  First, you never know how any part of these treatments will go, so why setup a patient for a let down?  Second, it helped Jill and I just worry about this . . . not trying to plan our entire calendar for the year 2011.  It has let us let go a bit, which is a good thing.

So . . . on Thursday we meet with the Gynecological Oncologist.  This will be the doc who ends up taking Jill’s ovaries out (or a similar doc, should we for some reason not feel a connection with this doc).  We have been advised by several to go to a Gyn that specializes in oncology just to be on the doubly safe side should they encounter cancer in that area during surgery.  Or something like that.  That is said to be a 4 hour appt.  I am guessing there will be an ultrasound at a minimum in addition to consultation, but we shall see.  That surgery will be post mastectomy and post radiation, so it is a while off.

Then we meet with Dr. Schmidt late in the afternoon.  This has the making of a long afternoon, but that is not an issue.  We have learned a new kind of patience at these physicians’ offices.  Just part of the deal with the flipside that we have always been afforded the time we need while face to face with the docs. 

When that day is done and we get the info we are hoping to get, we will post the next phase plan here.  Best case, and one we are hopeful to get, is that she is currently cancer free (or as close to it as they want) and that surgery will be scheduled for late April or early May.  We are looking forward to this weekend as it will mark the first time in a while Jill has been more then 13 days post chemo treatment (meaning she should be feeling good) and we will know the next part of this journey.