1st visit with Medical Oncologist

tommaseena
tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
edited March 2014 in Breast Cancer #1
Diagnosed 12/8/08 DCIS with invasion
bilateral mastectomy with tissue expanders 2/2/09
Stage 1
HER2+

Recommendation:
AC every 2 weeks for 4 treatments and Neulasta next day.
Taxol with Herceptin--can't remember treatment schedule
the Herceptin every week for 52 weeks.

Wow what a mind blow. Thought I treatment would be different than others but to be doing this for over 1 year just seems to blow my mind.

I am scheduled for an Echo 2/25/09.
Port 3/2/09
treatment to start 3/10/09.

I may have a lot of questions and will ask my sisters and brothers of pink.
I love to play golf in the summer here in Maine and I guess I will have to ask when they insert the port whether I will still be able to swing a club and chase after that little white ball.

Thank you for such a wonderful site.

Margo

Comments

  • seof
    seof Member Posts: 819 Member
    #2
    Sounds about right
    Your treatment plan seems to be similar to what many others have done. I expect the port will present no problem with the golfing, once the first few days of soreness from the surgery are done. The only trouble I remember with mine is that I walked our very energetic large dog with that arm early on and had some soreness for a couple of days. I was diagnosed in May 2007 and I just finished the last Herceptin treatment in Feb. 2009. I had bilateral mastectomy in Dec. 08. I am waiting till Summer 09 to do reconstruction surgery because I work in a public school and I want to have summer to recover, so my total treatment will be 2 years. At the beginning it seems a long time, but looking back it seems like it has gone by fast.

    Hopefully yours will go by quickly for you.

    seof
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #3
    seof said:

    Sounds about right
    Your treatment plan seems to be similar to what many others have done. I expect the port will present no problem with the golfing, once the first few days of soreness from the surgery are done. The only trouble I remember with mine is that I walked our very energetic large dog with that arm early on and had some soreness for a couple of days. I was diagnosed in May 2007 and I just finished the last Herceptin treatment in Feb. 2009. I had bilateral mastectomy in Dec. 08. I am waiting till Summer 09 to do reconstruction surgery because I work in a public school and I want to have summer to recover, so my total treatment will be 2 years. At the beginning it seems a long time, but looking back it seems like it has gone by fast.

    Hopefully yours will go by quickly for you.

    seof

    thanks
    Thanks seof of your reply.
    I never thought that this cancer would consume my life like it has--research, dr's appointments and coming to this board. I sign on several times a day just to see what others are going through and what I may expect in my journey of treatment.

    I do have a 5 1/2 yr old boy who has been wonderful through this whole thing so far. I did tell him that I will need medication and that my hair will be falling out. He said he wants to go with me when I have my head shaved. I want to prepare him for everything that is going to happen so he is not scared.

    Thank you everyone.

    Margo
  • mmontero38
    mmontero38 Member Posts: 1,510
    #4
    Welcome Margo to the club no
    Welcome Margo to the club no one wants to join but here we are. I just wanted to welcome you and tell you we know what you are going through. You will meet wonderful people on this site both survivors and caregivers who will give you insightful views on everything. We've walked your shoes so we understand. Please feel free to post any question you may have and we will try to answer. Keep us posted with your progress. Hugs, Lili

    PS: I"m also a golfer but haven't played since diagnosed in June 2007. I have now joined the gym to get my strength back so I can start swinging this spring.

    Also, drink lots of water. Especially when you start treatments. You will need to flush out all those chemicals so that it doesn't irritate the organs.
  • tommaseena
    tommaseena Member Posts: 1,769
    #5
    mmontero38 said:

    Welcome Margo to the club no
    Welcome Margo to the club no one wants to join but here we are. I just wanted to welcome you and tell you we know what you are going through. You will meet wonderful people on this site both survivors and caregivers who will give you insightful views on everything. We've walked your shoes so we understand. Please feel free to post any question you may have and we will try to answer. Keep us posted with your progress. Hugs, Lili

    PS: I"m also a golfer but haven't played since diagnosed in June 2007. I have now joined the gym to get my strength back so I can start swinging this spring.

    Also, drink lots of water. Especially when you start treatments. You will need to flush out all those chemicals so that it doesn't irritate the organs.

    Thanks
    Lili,
    I have learned a lot already from this site. When I have a question I search first and if I don't find an answer then I will post it.
    Everyone survivors and caregivers alike on this site are wonderful.

    Thank you for your advice. I already drink almost a gallon of water a day so that will help.

    Hugs back at you.
    Margo
  • neda
    neda Member Posts: 36
    #6
    I am wondering about my tratment choices.
    I had a DCIS too. the size of tumor was ).17 of 1 centimetr.After removing the tumor, I had the secound surgery for cleaning the tissues around teh tumor. At the same tim emy lymp nods were checkd and thank God they were not effected by cancer. So my oncolpgist thought the radiation is the best option for me now. However, I am wondring if it is th ebest option for me or not? Please let me knoe if you have more informaton about this issue.

    I wish you a full recovery soon.

    Neda.
  • mimivac
    mimivac Member Posts: 2,143 Member
    #7
    neda said:

    I am wondering about my tratment choices.
    I had a DCIS too. the size of tumor was ).17 of 1 centimetr.After removing the tumor, I had the secound surgery for cleaning the tissues around teh tumor. At the same tim emy lymp nods were checkd and thank God they were not effected by cancer. So my oncolpgist thought the radiation is the best option for me now. However, I am wondring if it is th ebest option for me or not? Please let me knoe if you have more informaton about this issue.

    I wish you a full recovery soon.

    Neda.

    Treatment
    Neda,

    Radiation is often the only therapy recommended for DCIS, especially if it is small like yours. However, talk to your doctor about your concerns and ask why other therapies were not recommended. She can put your mind at ease. Chemo is often done for invasive tumors to clean out the system in case there are any microscopic cancers cells that the scans cannot pick up. DCIS does not, by definition, invade other parts of the breast so usually no chemo. Hope this helps.

    Mimi
  • ladybug22
    ladybug22 Member Posts: 646
    #8
    I TOOK HERCEPTIN EVERT 2
    I TOOK HERCEPTIN EVERT 2 WEEKS FOR A YEAR. THE HERCEPTIN I TOOK AFTER WORK. I finished my last one in Feb. This will pass good luck to you

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