Fasten Your Seatbelts....!

I was getting anxious because everything seemed to be moving in slow motion and I was worried that I was losing precious time. After my appointment with Dr. L. today, all that has changed.

Another doctor, Dr. R, examined me first. She then met with him and gave him her thoughts. He came in and corrected some of her opinions such as the size of the tumor. Dr. Z had been telling me approximately 4 centimeters. Dr. L was now saying 7 cm. I don't know if that means Dr. Z was wrong or it's grown that much in the last two months. Probably grown.

Tomorrow I have what is called a MUGA test (to see how strong my heart pumps), Wednesday I have the port placement and Monday I have my first chemo treatment. I had to give blood today for the port placement and when I told the lab tech that I was having a MUGA test tomorrow, I said "Sounds kinda like a Harry Potter thing". He said "yeah, we're testing you to see if you're a muggle" (Need to read the books if you don't know what that is). When I told BDHA about the "muggle" test, he said to use my powers to win the Powerball. I told him that unfortunately, I can't use it to better my own circumstances, otherwise I wouldn't have breast cancer. Duh~.

I will go through 4 cycles of chemotherapy; once every three weeks. Then they will decide either to start another treatment using a different medicine and surgery or surgery first. It depends on how the tumor behaves.

Dr. L seemed a little cranky when he first walked in but warmed up after that. He wasn't so certain that I did have Inflammatory Breast Cancer but he's going to treat me as if I did, just in case. Oh yeah..I'll have to make sure I look my best on Monday cause the hospital photographer is coming in to take a picture of me..okay..my breast...so they can monitor the redness. He even had a resident come in and take a look. Apparently they don't see breasts as fine as mine all that often...(a little humor never hurts).

So if I figured out the calendar correctly, my treatments are as follows:
1. 12/22/2008
2. 01/12/2009
3. 02/02/2009
4. 2/23/2009

Each treatment will last between 2.5 and 3 hours. MFD had a good idea. She said to take the mini DVR player I bought BDHA and watch movies while waiting. Good idea!

I should expect to lose my hair after the 2nd treatment. Time to go wig shopping. Dr. R said that I may have to take a few days off after the treatments because of fatigue but would be able to work the rest of the week. The real fatigue kicks in if they put me through a second round of medicine after these 4.

I was told to wash my hands constantly, wash fruits and veggies well and to eat well-cooked meats. No sushi (not a problem!). If I get a temp I'm to call them immediately.

For this next part, I need MoM, my mother-in-law and Mrs. P to cover their eyes. There was a sign on the wall in the examination room that talked about sex and chemo. It said that it could be hazardous. My first comment to BDHA was maybe that a certain body part might become radioactive and glow-in-the-dark. Kewl! Actually, it was stressing the importance of birth control and condoms in regards to birth defects and infections. The headline certainly drew my attention and made me read more.

It was a lot of sitting around and waiting but I'm relieved that a program has been put in place and I have a starting point.

I'll post tomorrow after my MUGA test and let you know if I'm able to pick the winning Lottery numbers.