Things are Great

We met with the radiation oncologist last week. She told us there are three levels to consider: absolute, recommended, and not recommended. Absolute means there are 5 or more lymph nodes with cancer. Recommended means there are less than five, and not recommended means anything with 2mm, or smaller, tumors; or tumors that are non-existent.

While the doctor was explaing this, it was pretty obvious Lois was going to fall into the absolute category. Then she indicated a discrepancy between the referral she received regarding Lois' diagnosis and what the pathlogy report actually said. After talking to the patholgist on the phone, once while we were in the office, she reported that one of the sentinel nodes was totally clear of any cancer, while the other had a small tumor that measured 2 millimeters in size (about 1/16th of an inch). She said when they are that small they aren't counted to determine the level of radiation treatment needed.

While explaining all this she excused herself and left the examination room. When she returned she said, "you just went from a five to a three." She had talked to the pathologist again so she could be certain about what his report said.

So Lois went from "absolute" to "recommended," for radiation therapy. We take that as Good News. Still, she's determined to go ahead with radiation. I'm not very comfortable with the fact that the radiation, administered from the side, will strike the outer lining of the lung on that side. My dad had radiation that damaged some of his lung tissue, it became infected, he developed pneumonia, and passed away in 1995. Still, one has to do what one has to do, so I totally support her in the decision to go forward with it.

We will meet with the chemotherapy oncologist on July 20th. We were concerned with the time frame for moving forward with all of this, but the radiation oncologist said this is within acceptable time frames and we don't need to worry. This waiting is not easy.

The chemotherapy oncologist will tell us whether she will have chemotherapy, or hormone therapy. I'm hoping for hormone therapy because I think it's the lesser of the two evils, but fortunately for Lois, this will not be determined by "what I want," but by the type of malignancy we're dealing with.

The radiation oncologist said if we do chemo, then we'll wait until it is over before doing the radiation, however if hormone therapy is what is called for, we can do both at the same time (another reason we prefer hormone therapy).

While at the Cancer Center (where the oncologists offices are located) we discovered the Support Services where Lois found a wig she liked. The lady said for her to go ahead and take it as it might be gone when she actually needs it. So we have this "thing" lying around, waiting, and watching us. Lois also found a falsie there. Not a pair of falsies, like I've always heard about, just a .....falsie. It looks good on her.

Meantime, things are great. We're living our lives as we normally do and enjoying this glorious summer and all it has to offer.

Unless things change, I probably won't post anything until after the appointment on the 20th.

You guys are great! Thanks for everything!