Chemotherapy: Round 8

Mom completed her eighth, and final, round of chemotherapy on Monday. Upon completion she received the "Purple Heart Award" for successfully completing chemotherapy, pictured above. Aside from some back pain, the last round of chemotherapy came and went without any real problems. Sixteen weeks went by fairly fast. Fairly fast, that is, considering how hard it must have been to endure these treatments every two weeks. I can't imagine having a treatment and realizing that you have to turn around and do it again in two weeks.

According to the oncologist, the treatments were so effective that after the final physical exam she noted that she no longer could feel the tumor. It is so hard to fathom that a 3 1/2" X 2" tumor had shrunk that much. For those with limited breast cancer experience that is a HUGE tumor. Most cases are detected when the tumor is between one and two centimeters, and often even smaller. Even with routine mammograms a tumor the size of Mom's is not always detectable. This puts added importance on knowing your family history for cancer and being in touch with your own body in order realize subtle changes. I am not trying to scare anyone with this information, but rather make people aware that mammograms are not always the gold standard that they were once thought to be. In fact there is no silver bullet.

An increasingly common method for detecting breast cancer has been the MRI, but MRI's have their flaws too. Often they are too sensitive and show a lot of false positives. MRI's are not accessible to all either, as many insurance companies do not cover them for preventative breast cancer screenings. As I mentioned before, being in touch with your own body is just as important tool as either of these two tests. If Mom had not realized that something were wrong on her own it could have easily been another year before she was diagnosed. As everyone already knows early detection is the key to surviving.

I apologize if I have come off as though I am preaching; I just would like to wish that no one else would have to go through this. It is by far the hardest thing that we have ever been through as a family. Without the support of our friends and family this would have, no doubt, been much more difficult.

Moving forward, Mom is currently scheduled to have a bi-lateral mastectomy on Monday, March 3rd. We have an appointment with the surgeon, Dr. Jalovec, to confirm the appointment as well as a pre-surgery consultation on Tuesday. I will update everyone when we have confirmed the appointment and as we approach the day of the surgery.

As always, thank you all for your support. Without all of you I know this would be far more difficult. Thank you for keeping our family in your thoughts and prayers.