Some Good News

On Monday, October 24, I met with my oncologist, Dr. Paul Coluzzi at UCLA Health. We discussed my chemotherapy plan. Because of the size of my tumors and because I have triple negative cancer, it was decided that I would do chemotherapy prior to having a mastectomy. This is called neoadjuvant therapy. Chemotherapy is the best--and really the only--option for killing triple negative cancer. Doing the chemo first would enable he and Dr. Coleman to determine whether the chemo was effective in killing my form of cancer. Hopefully when the mastectomy is done, it will be removing dead cancer cells/tumors.

Later that week, on Thursday, I had a second ultrasound and a pet scan. This was necessary because my MRI had shown two worrisome spots--an additional spot on my right breast and one on my left breast. The pet scan would help determine whether the cancer had spread to my left breast and--finally!--determine whether that foamy tumor was coming from some other part of my body.

The second ultra sound gave me some hope. The radiologist described what she saw and it corresponded to what I felt. She said that the lump I could feel was not the main lump (the biggest) in my breast and that she bet that the bigger lump had felt like it had come out of nowhere in the last month. Yes, exactly! I felt so awful and I like I gave myself a death sentence by not getting to a doctor sooner. It felt good to hear and then have Dr. Coleman say it, too. This thing is growing so fast, it is unlikely that it would have shown up on a mammogram a year ago. Fast-growing is not awesome but I needed to hear it wasn't my fault. The radiologist and tech that day said that they would see me again when I was cancer free at my next check-up. I cried.

I had the pet scan after my ultrasound also at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach. The next morning, both Dr. Coleman and Dr. Coluzzi called me personally to discuss. Based upon the pet scan and ultrasound, they do not believe that the cancer has spread. More good news! (I note that through my knee and hip surgeries, it was hard to actually see a doctor even when I had an appointment. So far, all of my doctors have been more than willing to answer my emails and calls personally and in a timely manner. Amazing.)

CONCLUSION:
1. 3 discrete hypermetabolic lesions in the right breast suspicious for multi focal malignancy. Evidence of spread to a cluster of 3 right axillary lymph nodes. No hypermetabolic lesions outside the right thorax. 

Seth also wanted me to note that the pet scan said:

FINDINGS:
Brain: Unremarkable.