visit with Dr. Green

Oh my gosh, the traffic was horrible going to Houston today!!! We made it there on time by leaving here at 6:30 for the 8:30 blood draw at the Mays Clinic. Yeah! Mays!!! I miss that place! Had an excellent stick and told the nurse how perfect it was!!! Then off to see Dr. Green.

Well, saw Alice (uh-lees) first. I love her!! She is SO sweet! She asks the normal questions, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, numbing (yes), etc. I told her the period was finally gone and she said maybe it will be for good, but couldn't say...for a year. Told her the numbing was going up my toes, but not enough to be impaired. And that I had had a fever last week. She was thrilled with my progress and how the past month has been with the Taxol.

I asked her about the port and when it would come out. She asked if I was having radiation after this. No, I'm not. So, about a week after my last treatment, I'll come in for another MRI to get the once over, one more time and they'll look at my bloodwork to make sure I'm clotting properly, etc. Then will come back the next day and have it removed. They'll numb the area, then take it out. She said most people say it doesn't hurt. So HURRAY!!! It should be gone by Thanksgiving! :o)

Then Dr. Green came in and did the breast checks and listened to the lungs. We talked for a while. I asked about diet and she said the best diet was making sure my fats were kept to less than 20% of my intake. Also she mentioned milk and chicken without hormones. We talked about the genetic testing which I'll have hopefully in November..it is scheduled for Dec at the moment. When I first started Ross said I wouldn't have to have a bi-lateral mastectomy since it wasn't in the family. She agreed that yes, at the time we had talked that that was a very wise choice. She wants me to wait until my genetic testing to make any further decisions. At this point, not knowing if there is the mutant gene, she would wait. If the testing comes back and there is NO mutant gene, then with the chemo AND the follow up tamoxifin / hormone therapy that I'll be getting after chemo, it cuts my chances of a recurrence by half. Which would be 5 -7%. Already it would be low with the no mutation and the occurrence of it coming back in a different spot was low. However, it if came back and there WAS the mutant gene, then the chances were much higher 35% or so. So, we'll see once the genetic testing is done. If it comes back mutant, I will be looking into prophylactic mastectomy. So, in the meantime, I'm trying to get my diet back under control.

Three more treatments!!!