Happy New Year’s Eve!

I had a consult with Dr. Lundahl, the radiation oncologist yesterday, but couldn’t post because we went from the appointment to the Foster Farms San Francisco Bowl game. Despite the chilly temps, Stanford played very well and was victorious, so it was worth braving what for us were freezing temps.

Dr. Lundahl has a dry sense of humor, which I love.  His first words were that no, you won’t be radioactive during treatment.  He must get this question a lot!  He explained that they’d be irradiating the entire breast from 2 directions, that radiation therapy is 1-2 weeks after I finish general chemo (not the targeted therapy of Herceptin), and that the treatment will likely run 5-6 weeks.  Treatment is 5 days a week for those 5-6 weeks, but each treatment is only 30 minutes or so.  Not much new information for me, but it was good to meet him.  He also said that Dr. Ching does a great job of not being overly aggressive in removing breast tissue.  One of the questions I had was since Dr. Ching is concerned about how close the tumor is to my skin and that she may not be able to get clear margins, whether that will have any affect on the treatment plan.  He didn’t think so, but did reiterate that if clear margins aren’t achieved, a second surgery is needed.

While I was tailgating before the bowl game, Dr. Priya called to see how I was doing, and asked that I call her back.  I called her back today, but she’s out until Monday.  I did talk to her nurse, who said that Dr. Priya actually wanted me to come back in to talk to her, probably about the HER2 positive diagnosis and how this will affect the chemo treatment.  The nurse will call me back next week after she’s had a chance to talk with Dr. Priya.

I’m also expecting a call from Dora, Dr. White’s surgery scheduler, to book pre-op appointments.  This is my life now, going from appointment to appointment.

These arrived the other day.  

and reminds me of this post I saw on Facebook the other day:  

I’ve only told a few people about my diagnosis at this point, but everyone has been amazing. Thank you, Julie & Kelsey, for the beautiful flowers.  Love you!

Enjoy your New Year’s celebrations – stay safe!