The day Kent and I met my surgeon Dr. Anderson was also the day I met my nurse navigator Kendra. Dr. Anderson hadn’t received the results of my MRI yet, but he did have my marker information. The main concern was that the HER2 marker came back positive which meant that I would need to start with chemotherapy, then have surgery and more chemo and possibly radiation and finally hormone therapy.

Kendra talked to us about genetic testing and had me fill in my family medical history as I was spitting in a vial. She was super sweet and I knew she would be vital in this whole process. While we were talking, Dr. Anderson came in with my MRI results. There was something suspicious on the left side and they wanted to take another look with ultrasound. I knew then why God told me not to worry about what was already going on in my body. I was ready to trust Him with His plan and watch it unfold!

I had the ultrasound done a few days later, but the results were inconclusive. The tech and radiologist couldn’t find the abnormal spot that was on the MRI. This wasn’t the radiologist who had looked at my original mammogram and ultrasound and performed the biopsy. She’s the real expert and they wanted her opinion before filing a report. More waiting…

On December 16, Kent and I finally met my oncologist, Dr. Corum. He spent well over an hour asking me questions about my family history, how I found the tumor, what my lifestyle is like, all the tests I’ve been through, and talking to us about the type of cancer I have and what the treatment would look like. Just as the surgeon had said, he wants to start me on chemotherapy first. I’ll have 6 treatments total, 3 weeks apart. Then I’ll have surgery – depending on how much the chemo shrinks the tumor will depend on whether I will be a candidate for a lumpectomy or if I’ll have to do an entire masectomy. (Fortunately, the genetic testing came back negative so I don’t have to have a double masectomy based on that!) After surgery, I’ll continue one of the chemo drugs, which is actually an antibody that fights the HER2 proteins that want to keep multiplying, to finish out a year. Finally, I’ll have hormone treatments that will continue for 5-10 years in a pill form.

Tomorrow (December 20) I get my port placed. Monday, I will have my first chemo treatment! Praying that the side effects will be minimal and that I can enjoy Christmas!